The Orrean Chronicles
by The Emerald Shapeshifter
Summary: The return of the Missing and other old friends, and a planet greet the Hyperforce in this journey. An evil threats the very center of the universe, the planet holding it all together. Can they do it? Part One of the Horizon Trilogy.
1. Epilogue: Shattered Remains

**Orrean Chronicles**

**A SRMTHFG Fanfiction**

_Well, time for another epic fanfic._

The return of the Missing, two other old friends, and a planet greet the Hyperforce in this journey. An evil threats the very center of the universe, the planet holding it all together. And the planets near it are in grave danger. If one goes out, they all go out. The Hyperforce shall have their hands full on this mission. And they cannot refuse. But is betrayal around the corner?

**Epilogue: Shattered Remains**

Long ago, she had met the Hyperforce. She was a loner, living alone on her planet.

But she was used to being alone.

She turned to face the four tubes that were built up in the grand centre of her palace-like home. Four figures, small and short, hovered in the glass tubes, motionless, and de-powered. They had been that way for a long time as well.

But now the universe needed them once more. Needed their power, skill, and might. Since her best friend was not them, she needed other power that matched her friend's.

She stepped up to the tubes, revealing herself to be a medium-sized green dragon, with multi-colored eyes and horns. Her eyes, horns, and spine crest pulsed with the colors of the rainbow, and created a light show in the semi-darkness of twilight that seeped through the windows. But it would never become night. Never on this planet was there ever night. Never.

She pressed a button, and the tubes began to open. She looked to the ground. "C'mon guys. It's time to wake up…"

The figures stepped from their tubes, looking up at the dragon. They were robotic simians, one black with orange eyes, one white with red eyes, one blue with yellow eyes, and one orange with green eyes. Two male, two female.

The black one looked up with orange eyes full of curiosity. "Emarelda? What's going on?"

The dragon's form seemingly melted into that of a green robot monkey, with multi-colored eyes. "Time to pay some old friends a visit."

"But it's been so long," the orange one said.

"How do we know if they're even alive?" the white one asked.

"Maria," Emarelda said, addressing the white one. "It's only been five years."

"But, still," the blue one said. "So much could have happened in that time span."

"I've been watching them all this time, Jupiter," Emarelda said slowly, gazing at the blue one. "They're alive. And they're waiting."

"All this time," the black one said, beginning to cry.

The orange one hugged her. "Don't worry, Silhouette," he said. "It's okay. I'm sure they miss us, too."

"They barely knew us for a year, Quint," Silhouette snapped back. "We were just friends, and then we vanished. Without a trace. Poof! Like that."

"Stop this." The green monkey took on a dragon form again. "This is serious." She glanced at each of them saying their names in turn. "Silhouette, Quint, Jupiter, and Maria. They'll need your help for this. Would you deny them the universe?"

"After it's over, how can we not be sure you'll lock us away like last time?" Silhouette asked, glaring.

"I won't. The Hyperforce cries for the return of their friends. I'm not that heartless."

Silhouette looked to the ground, silent.

"We should try," Maria said. "Emma said they needed us. And, to tell the truth, we need them."

"What if they really did forget us?" Silhouette said.

Emarelda eyed her. "Do you think they would forget someone like you?"

The black monkey blushed. "Okay," she said. "I'll go."

She slowly crouched down, and her metal parts began to expand, creaking as they changed shape, transforming her from monkey to dragon. "Let's go."

So, with the other three riding on the green dragon's back, they flew off into the pinkish-red sky, leaving the planet behind as the piano in the palace began, of its own accord, to play a tune, the notes fading away with their forms into the sky.

* * *

"Gibson, stop," Chiro told the blue monkey. "The Skeleton King's gone. There's no need for you to continue scanning Shuggazoom."

"Better safe than sorry, Chiro," the deep voice of Antauri said.

"I should be getting rest," Gibson said, shutting off the computer and yawning.

Sparx lounged lazily in his chair, idly dangling a small pendant from a chain in his hand. Otto came up to him. "What's that, Sparx?"

"Oh…" the red monkey said quietly. "It was a…gift…"

Otto blinked, and the realization dawned upon him. "Oh, yeah… It's that day again." His cheery expression dropped.

"On this day, five years ago, they all vanished," Sparx announced, the proclamation rote in his memory for the past five years. "I never even got to say goodbye to her. They say only time can mend a broken heart, but now I know nothing can."

"Sparx…" Gibson said. He should have been rolling his eyes, but he knew how upset the red monkey was. "It's been five years. You need to move on."

Sparx just rubbed his thumb over the pendant he held. "I just wish they would come back."

Suddenly, the computer screen flickered on, showing what looked to be a meteor falling through the sky, burning up in the atmosphere. They all crowded around the screen.

"It's just a meteor," Gibson said, moving to turn the screen off.

"Gibson! Wait!" Otto said, grabbing his hand.

They all watched, unknowingly waiting for the explosion of the impact. But just as the streak of light reached the ground, the light faded away, and there was no explosion.

"Good God…" Gibson muttered.

"What the hell?" Nova asked.

Another meteor zipped through the atmosphere, this one smaller, but it did that same as the last one—it did not hit the planet.

They all stared at the screen. Antauri's voice finally spoke. "Those were not meteors. And those were not natural occurrences."

They zoomed the camera in, but there was no impact crater anywhere, just sand and dirt blown out of the way from the area where the two objects headed to.

"Hyperforce, GO!" Chiro cried.

If you're confused, that's good. To tell the truth, only one person should understand the background story to this. But explanations should come later for those who are not that one person.

My four OCs, Silhouette, Quint, Maria and Jupiter have returned, alone with my old dragon character from my first story. This will have three pairings, all with my OCs, and, of course, only one person should know them without me telling.

Enjoy!


	2. Returned

**Orrean Chronicles**

The couples are:

_Quint/Nova_

_Sparx/Silhouette_

_Otto/Maria_

And try not to get confused. This takes place after Soul of Evil, long after. Antauri is silver, and whenever I say 'black monkey' it means Silhouette.

And if anyone was wondering the tune the piano played in the last chapter… I was listening to the song 'Right Here Waiting' by Richard Marx.

And there's a little Sparx/Silhouette fluff in this chapter. :O Is the world coming to an end? Me, doing fluffy chapters?! _(chokes on the fluff)_

**Chapter Two: Returned**

Silhouette had returned into a primate form, dusting herself off from the entry into the atmosphere of the familiar Shuggazoom. She looked to the bright city on the horizon, noting how she could vaguely see the Super Robot.

She turned to her brothers and Maria, watching them dismount the green dragon, who took on the shape of a monkey once more. She looked around, then gazed at the black monkey. "So, what do you think we should do?"

"M-Me?" Silhouette asked nervously.

"Yup. You."

"Um…"

Suddenly, they heard the familiar sounds of buzzing jetpacks. They looked up as Emarelda cloaked them from normal eyesight.

"We are at the coordinates that the meteors' trajectory sent them to," Gibson's voice drifted down to them, faintly.

"Well, where are the freakin' space rocks, Brainstrain?" Sparx's voice said.

Silhouette looked to the ground.

The Hyperforce landed mere feet from them. Emarelda slowly grabbed Silhouette's hand, and she, in turn, grabbed the others' hands, and they crept slowly behind some boulders. Emarelda did not lift the invisibility cloak.

Silhouette tugged on the dragon's tail, asking a silent question.

"I don't see any sign of any craters, Gibson," Chiro said. He touched the ground with a finger, rubbing his forefinger and thumb together. "It's just…dirt."

"No ashes, no signs of a crash," Antauri said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Very odd…"

"Well, this was a waste of time," Sparx scoffed. He lifted up the pendant he wore around his neck. It looked like two canes, crossed over to form a heart on the top. "Let's just go home so I can be miserable."

It was then that Emarelda crept out from behind the rocks, still keeping the others invisible. "Why would you be miserable, Sparx?" she asked, grinning.

The Hyperforce all took out their weapons. "Who are you?" Chiro asked, getting into a fighting stance.

"Oh, come on. It hasn't been that long that you guys have forgotten about me. I haven't forgotten about you."

Sparx took a step forward, his eyes narrowed. "Oh…my…God……" he gasped out.

"Sparx?" Nova asked. "Are you okay?"

"Emarelda?" Sparx breathed out. "Is that you?"

With a bright flash of light, Emarelda was back in dragon form. She grinned, revealing silver teeth.

Sparx nearly fell down. "And…are they…?"

"They're all with me," Emarelda said, patting him on the head.

And it was then that Sparx lost it. His eyes rolled back into his head, and he fainted.

* * *

Blurred colors filled his vision as he finally came to. Voices were around, but none he wanted to hear.

"I predicted that would happen." A female chuckle.

"Where have you been all this time?" Gibson.

"On Orre. The others have been deactivated ever since I left."

"Why did you leave, exactly?" Antauri.

"There were some…complications… We had to leave. Sorry."

"There is nothing to be sorry for, Emarelda. You left for the greater good."

Sparx groaned, and slowly opened his eyes all the way. He looked to his right to see Emarelda, as a monkey, floating in midair, upside down. She grinned. "Finally." She grabbed his shoulders and lifted him up so he was sitting up.

"Thanks," he groaned. "What happened?"

"You fainted," Emarelda chuckled. "I expected that, in the least."

He grinned half-heartedly.

Emarelda returned the grin. "Silhouette is in the main room. She was worried sick about you." She held her hands out as Sparx's eyes widened. "Don't faint again."

"Why did she leave?"

"I guess you can say I forced her to, alone with her brothers and Maria. There was something I had to attend to on Orre, and Earth, so they had to come with me."

"Does she miss me?"

"She's been deactivated these last years. But she's sick to her stomach with excitement about seeing you again anyway."

Sparx smiled a small smile. "So…"

"Go for it."

Sparx slowly stood up, nearly stumbling as he ran to the main room.

He looked cautiously in the doorway, with Emarelda watching from behind him. Otto was sitting in his chair with Maria, the white monkey. He had his arm around her shoulder, and his tail was wrapped around her waist, both just glad to be together.

Quint was sitting with Nova in her chair. The golden monkey had her head laying on the orange Monkey's chest, and she was fast asleep, cuddled next to Quint as he gently rubbed her back.

Antauri, of course, was meditating, hovering above the rest. Gibson was sitting in his chair, looking annoyed as Chiro was playing a video game.

And, in Sparx's red chair, sat Silhouette, her knees brought up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them, resting her chin on her arms. She didn't see him. She was looking blankly into the distance, completely still.

Emarelda was suddenly crawling on the ceiling, and she just phased through the wall into the main room. She crawled, upside down, over to where Silhouette was sitting. She flipped and jumped, landing on top of the pod chair. The clang of metal on metal caused the black monkey in the chair to jump, and look around in surprise.

Finally, her eyes landed on the red monkey standing in the now open doorway.

She stood up, eyes wide. "Sparx…!"

"Silhouette!" he replied. He ran up to her, and grabbed her in his arms into a tight hug, spinning her around once. He kissed her head, holding her close. "I though I'd never see you again!"

She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself closer. "I missed you so much!" she said.

The others watched on, all smiling.

Sparx rested his cheek on her head, holding her closer. "I thought you were gone…" he whispered.

Silhouette looked up at him. She gave him a gentle peck on the lips. "Well, I'm here now." She smiled.

He smiled back. "God, I've missed that smile."

Silhouette blushed.

Sparx chuckled and scooped her up bridal style, carrying her over to his chair once more as she laughed. He sat down, with her on his lap as she snuggled up to him. He wrapped his arms around her as she lay her head on his shoulder. He did not want to let her go.

"So, Emarelda, what brings you back to Shuggazoom?" Antauri inquired, looking up at the green robot monkey.

"Oh, right," she said. She jumped off the chair, floating slowly down. Her face was now grave. "It's Orre. And Aether. All of them."

"Orre? Aether?" Gibson echoed. "Who are they?"

"I told you about Orre," Emarelda answered. "My planet."

"Oh, right."

"There's…a shadow being. It threatens to consume Orre, and Aether, the Center of the Universe."

"And this shadow being…?"

"Equal in power to the Skeleton King himself."

The main screen suddenly flickered from the video game Chiro was playing, and switched to something else. "Hey!" Chiro said.

The screen showed Orre, the Planet of Light. Different statistics of the planet came up, but they were shown in a language the Hyperforce didn't know, probably to preserve the many secrets of the planet. There was a small light shining from the inside of the transparent, 3-D image of the planet.

"There is a very powerful artifact inside the planet," Emarelda told them. "The inside of the planet is not molten—in fact, Orre is vaguely hollow. It is the perfect place for this artifact."

"And what, exactly, does the artifact do?" Gibson asked.

"Whatever I can do, besides shapeshifting," Emarelda answered. "It's a powerful magical item, and a powerful energy source."

"How powerful?" Gibson asked.

"Powerful enough to power one billion Super Robots without running low on power for billions of years."

"And this mystery shadow creature wants it?" Chiro guessed, sulking back to his chair.

Emarelda nodded. "So we must protect it, and the planet until I can manage to defeat him."

"Does 'it' have a name?" Antauri inquired.

"His name is Temhota," was her answer.

"Odd name," Gibson commented.

"It's 'darkness' in some other language on Earth," Emarelda said slowly.

"What does this being look like?" Gibson wondered.

The picture of the planet changed to that of a shadow-like creature, with two yellow eyes (I can't describe it, but if anyone has played Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, it looks like the mini-boss in the Stone Tower; give me a break, I'm not creative with these things anymore).

"That's him," Emarelda said. She looked at Chiro. "So, will the Hyperforce help?" There was a tone to her voice that made her sound like she didn't want to ask, that she expected them to help her anyways, but she had to ask to be polite.

Chiro looked to the others. Sparx reluctantly stood up, and Silhouette sat up. Nova and Otto came forth as well, and the team huddled up.

"Should we?" Chiro asked.

"I believe it would be wise to help a powerful ally," Antauri commented.

"I'm worried about leaving Shuggazoom," Gibson said.

"The Skeleton King is gone," Otto pointed out.

"I'm going whether you do or not," Sparx said gruffly. "If we say no, Emma will leave and take Silhouette, Maria, Quint and Jupiter with her."

Otto and Nova blinked.

Chiro nodded, and they all turned to Emarelda. "We'll help."

"Then we'll leave tomorrow," the dragon said. "It'll give you all time to get reacquainted."

* * *

The rest of the day, most of the Hyperforce made preparations. Emarelda claimed it would be a long journey for the Super Robot, candidly gloating that she could fly there through the cosmos in a few minutes. So Antauri, Gibson, and Jupiter spent the day getting supplies, refueling the Super Robot, and doing a thorough systems check.

The couples, however, spent the day together. Otto and Maria went to a movie together, and had not been seen for hours. Nova and Quint had gone to the only beach in Shuggazoom City.

Sparx had been content to do whatever Silhouette wanted to do, and she had wanted to take a walk around Shuggazoom City to see what had changed.

In truth, nothing had really changed in Shuggazoom. The city remained the same ever since the War between the Living and the Dead, except for a few new areas of the city being built, and the new buildings being made. But this was only the black monkey's second visit to Shuggazoom, so she was enthralled by anything and everything she saw.

"Shuggazoom is bigger than I remembered," she commented, grabbing Sparx's hand.

He smiled and wrapped his tail around hers. "Yeah…they're rebuilding sections that were destroyed, making them bigger."

They made it to Shuggazoom Central Park just as the sky was melting into vibrant reds and yellows, and the sun slowly sunk below the horizon. Sparx showed Silhouette a statue, made of solid gold, which the people of Shuggazoom made in tribute to the Hyperforce. Silhouette's eyes glittered. "It's beautiful."

Sparx grinned and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Yes, it is," he said, winking.

She blushed, and leaned into him, sighing. "God, I missed you."

"Not as much as I missed you," he replied, kissing her forehead. "I would barely talk to anyone on the day you vanished." He looked at her. "Why did you leave?"

Silhouette suddenly looked to her feet. "Emarelda lied when you met her. I wanted to tell you, but she wouldn't let me."

"Lied about what?"

"She said the Alchemist created all of us. Me, my brothers, and Maria. In truth, Emma was the one who made all of us."

"Really? I didn't think she was that smart." He chuckled.

Silhouette smiled a little. "She's smarter than she lets on. She's really tricky, too. Sometimes I wonder whose side she's on. But, when she made us, and brought us here to help you guys, she didn't expect any of us to get together like we did."

"Really? Did she want anything from you guys other than to fight?" Sparx put his finger under her chin and lifted her head so she was looking at him.

She shook her head. "I don't think so."

Sparx wrapped his arms around her. "Well, Shuggazoom is your home now. You stay as long as you like."

She grinned and lay her hand on his chest. "I might just take you up on that offer."

A shadow passed over them, and they looked up to see Emarelda flying over them. Her large wings cast a big shadow, and she flew over the park and into the city once more.

"Where's she going?" Sparx wanted to know.

Silhouette shrugged. "Who knows with her?"

"I do know one thing," Sparx said, grinning. He suddenly grabbed Silhouette, kissing her on the lips. She seemed stunned for a moment, but then wrapped her arms around his neck, returning the kiss.

Sparx finally pulled away, and he grinned. Silhouette blushed a little, before resting her head on his shoulder. Sparx tightened his grip on her, holding her closer.

Suddenly, they heard a beeping sound. Silhouette's communicators activated, and Jupiter's voice came through them: "Sis? It's getting late. You and your boyfriend come back here."

Silhouette blushed, but nonetheless answered. "Okay…okay… We're coming." She rolled her eyes and looked to Sparx. "So much for a day alone," she sighed.

He smiled and kissed her cheek, picking her up bridal style. "We'll have time together plenty now that you're back. Now c'mon, before Mr. Grumpy blows a fuse."

Silhouette laughed, and Sparx activated his jetpack and took to the air towards the Super Robot.

* * *

"So you two have fun?" Gibson asked as Sparx and Silhouette entered the Robot.

Silhouette nodded, smiling broader than ever. "Yes, we did."

"What about you, Gibby?" Sparx asked. "Did you have fun with… Oh, that's right. You don't have a girlfriend. Ha!"

Gibson's face turned red, and he said, "Well, Silhouette is the first girl I've known that actually likes you, _Sparky_."

"Don't call me that!"

Silhouette looked hurt at Gibson's comment. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"It's just that Sparx can be…how should I put this…rude, and ignorant and stupid at times," Gibson said, not noting the angry female. Sparx glared at him. "So not many girls like him, and those that do are sort of…" He let the thought trail off.

A stream of black smoke entered the Robot through a crack in the metal, and formed into Emarelda. She watched with interested eyes.

"Well, are you saying I'm rude, and ignorant, and dumb?" Silhouette asked, glaring.

Gibson's face paled. "N-No! That's not what I meant!"

"Well, I meant this!" Silhouette turned her hand into a fist like Nova's, and brought it forward to meet Gibson's face. The blue monkey flew backwards, until the green dragon suddenly darted forward, catching him. She set him gently on the ground.

"Now, now, Silhouette," she said. "Let's not go making enemies."

Sparx tried not to laugh at Gibson; instead, he wrapped his arms around the black monkey, and pulled her back. Her hand returned to normal, and Sparx gently stroked her shoulder to calm her down.

"I think you're perfect," the red monkey said in her ear, causing her to blush.

Emarelda held a hand to Gibson's bruised cheek, and it slowly healed. He nodded his thanks, and left without a word.

"Sorry Gibson!" Silhouette called after him.

"Sorry about what?" Silhouette turned around to see her brother, Quint, enter the room, with Nova at his side.

"Um…" The black monkey was suddenly interested in her fingers.

"She punched Gibson," Emarelda said.

Silhouette rolled her eyes. "Thanks Emma. You're a real friend."

"You punched him??" Quint's eyes grew wide.

Silhouette smiled sheepishly. Suddenly, she was smothered as her brother gave her a big hug. "Good job," he said quietly. "That guy does get on my nerves."

Sparx grinned. "You're alright, Quint."

Silhouette stepped back and smiled more.

"We're back!" Otto's voice echoed into the room, and they turned to see him standing in the doorway with Maria. She had an 'I can't believe he just did that' look on her face.

"Now we can party!" Emarelda said. She then shook her head. "Nah, you guys should go to sleep. It's a long journey there, but I could—"

"Fly to Orre in just a few minutes…" everyone finished for her.

"Well, I can," Emarelda said.

Maria yawned. "Yeah, well, the Super Robot can't. It would break up at the speeds you fly at leisurely." Her eyes dropped.

Otto pecked her on the cheek. "C'mon, let's go get some sleep," the green monkey suggested. He took her hand and walked her down the hallway, out of the room.

Sparx went to take Silhouette's hand, but noticed she was no longer standing next to him. He looked around the room, before finally finding her, fast asleep in his pod-like chair. He grinned and walked over to her.

"Well, I think I'll hit the hay," Quint said, stretching. He winked at Nova and offered her his arm. "Coming?"

She smirked and took his arm, following him out of the room.

Sparx crawled into the chair with Silhouette, wrapping arms around her. She groggily opened her eyes. "Hmn?" she asked.

Sparx just smiled and kissed her head. "Sleep. Tomorrow's gonna be a big day."

And so they both fell asleep together, locked in their embrace.

_(continues choking)_ Call a doctor!! XP

And, if you were wondering, in this fanfic, the Hyperforce had met Emarelda, the Missing, and Maria (who is not related to the Missing) a long time ago. The couples had formed then. And then Emarelda and the others vanished. Oooo…

_(continues to choke again)_ Please tell me you didn't hate it. :(

**AND I WANT REVIEWS!**

Oh, and I really, _really,_**REALLY** hate my dad. It's Spring Break and he's being a… Well, you get the point.

In case any of you were wondering, Jupiter is single. But, in the past, he did have a girlfriend. It's just someone else's OC and I don't want to use her without his permission. I haven't heard from him in a while…

And you know what's the cool thing about shapeshifters? Duh—they can change shape!

* * *


	3. Here We Are

**Orrean Chronicles**

* * *

This story takes place long after the Hyperforce visited Orre in my old fanfiction Dragon's Tear.

* * *

**Chapter Three: Here We Are**

"_Sparx…"_

Sparx groaned. He didn't want to wake up.

"_Get up you idiot."_

Sparx slowly opened his eyes. Silhouette was still curled up next to him, fast asleep. The red monkey rubbed his eyes. "What do you want, Emma?"

The green dragon nodded towards the tubes. "We're going. Get to the Fist Rocket."

Sparx was wide awake. "Now? But it's only…" He looked at the clock on the main screen. "Two in the morning?"

"The faster we get going, Sparx, the better," Gibson said, coming up to them. "From what Emarelda says, we need to get there as fast as we can."

Otto ran into the room, Maria following him. "You sit here, Maria," Otto was saying as he sat his girlfriend in his green pod chair. "It's gonna get bumpy."

Maria smiled and kissed him gently on the cheek. "I can handle it."

Otto blushed a little, and kissed her head. He then turned and ran to his tube.

Sparx noticed Quint and Jupiter sitting in the other pod chairs near his. Silhouette opened her eyes and looked around. "What's going on?"

Sparx gently pushed her back into the chair, pulling the restraints over her to buckle her up. "We're going now… Just stay here until we're out of the atmosphere."

Silhouette nodded warily. She wasn't used to traveling in a spaceship. Sparx kissed her real quick, then retreated to his tube.

"Buckle up all!" Gibson shouted as he entered his tube. Quickly, Maria, Jupiter and Quint restrained themselves in the chairs. Emarelda merely stood where she was, her eyes closed, as if she would not be bothered by the Super Robot taking off.

Then, the Super Robot finally started up. Emarelda started off towards the power room, whispering under her breath, "The universe doesn't have time for waiting." She entered the power room, and the door closed behind her.

The Super Robot lurched as it took off, streaking through the night sky as it cleared the atmosphere. Soon, Shuggazoom was far below them, and the giant machine turned in the direction of Orre.

Suddenly, the Robot was encased in a soft, green light. The boosters powered up, and the Super Robot flew on, faster than normal.

"Gibson!" Sparx yelled. "What's going on?"

Silhouette unbuckled herself, running to the power room. "Emma? What're you doing?"

Emarelda was suddenly behind her, grinning. "Upgrading the Super Robot. Now, it'll fly faster without breaking up, as long as I'm here. We don't have the time."

Silhouette cocked her head. Quint unbuckled from his chair, and grabbed his sister's arm, taking her back towards her chair. "Sis, stay in your seat!"

Silhouette rolled her eyes but did as she was told.

Maria was sitting silently in her chair, playing a handheld video game device that Emarelda had given her. Jupiter looked over at her, slightly annoyed by the sound. "What are you playing, Maria?"

Maria didn't look away from the game. "I'm playing Pokémon Diamond," she responded (sorry, it was the first Nintendo DS game I got!). "One more and I'll have beat the Elite Four! Don't die Empoleon! Don't die— Darn it. He died." (That's the same thing I was doing… Only it was Gastrodon, not Empoleon)

Jupiter chuckled and shook his head.

The Super Robot suddenly began to shake violently. All of those in the main room suddenly grabbed onto their restraints, and those in the cockpits of the Super Robot's various controls screamed as the giant machine began to spin through space.

"And that's my cue," Emarelda said. With that, she turned and ran off.

Soon enough, the Super Robot's shaking stopped. Everyone looked around in confusion. Gibson's voice echoed through the speakers.

"I assume that's Orre."

The main screen turned on, showing a multi-colored planet below them.

"Yup, that's it," Quint said, crossing his arms. "The place we 'stayed' for five years…"

"Stop being Mr. Grumpy," Silhouette said. "I swear…"

So the Super Robot zoomed forward, and in a few minutes, landed on the planet's surface. Everyone exited the Robot, the Hyperforce looking all around them.

"I remember this place," Sparx said.

"It has not changed, but the location has," Gibson noticed, crossing his arms smugly.

"You mean where the planet is, right?" Emarelda said, slowly descending to the ground. "Yeah, it does that."

"Very peculiar," Gibson said, pressing his hand to the ground below them, watching how the yellow grass glistened.

"I have to go check on something," Emarelda told them, taking off. "The others will show you where my place is!"

The Hyperforce turned to the Missing. Silhouette grabbed Sparx's hand and ran off in the opposite direction (Silhouette doesn't have a jetpack). The others followed.

"The castle is huge!" Silhouette said, skipping along. "It's got tons of rooms, but sometimes the rooms change where they are and you could get lost. Luckily, in every room is a window you can break out of if that does happen. And there's a special door that'll take you deep below the planet to the tunnels beneath us! There used to be entrances everywhere, but ever since the power source she told you about was threatened, Emma closed them all off."

"Is she always this talkative?" Gibson asked Quint, who was walking beside him.

"You have no idea," Quint sighed.

Silhouette kept on talking like this until they reached a huge building. Each of the monkeys gaped at the size.

* * *

Far behind them, in one lone tree, a crow sat, watching the monkeys with beady red eyes. It cocked its head.

"So, the entrance is in the castle…" it said in a monotone voice. "A minor setback, but workable."

With that, it cawed and flew off.

* * *

"Some fancy place she's got," Sparx remarked. "Why does she need all this space?"

"The palace was specifically built to comfortably accommodate every living being on this planet," Jupiter explained. "Even the insects."

With that, Gibson shrieked. "There are insects in there?!"

"No, not now," Quint said. "Only in times of great peril and threat do all the being gather here. They are all connected to the planet, and the planet is connected to Emma. They will know when to come. Every living being is as important to Emma as this planet is. She's an animal lover."

Gibson calmed down enough to look up. "It's almost six stories high."

"Seven, if you count the spire," Silhouette corrected. She looked to Chiro. "Don't you guys remember this place?"

Chiro nodded, looking up at the building. "Yeah, I do." He looked around. "The field around us was full of trees and shrubs and ridges. What happened?"

"Minor landscaping that can be redone," Jupiter assured him. "There can be no ambush unless from below."

"Ah."

Silhouette approached the giant door and pushed on it, and the others watched as it swung inwards.

Inside was a vast room, with two staircases curving upwards and away from each other, leading to different hallways. Another doorway was in between the two stairs; it was a smaller version of the elaborate entrance gate.

"Where does that room lead?" Antauri questioned.

"Dining hall," Silhouette answered simply.

"Emarelda cooks?" Sparx asked.

"Yeah. She's a really good cook."

"So, where is this 'secret entrance' to the underground?" Gibson crossed his arms. "I don't believe this planet is hollow. It goes against all scientific—"

"Follow me!" Silhouette said eagerly, dashing off.

"Don't run!" Quint said, following her. "You could fall!"

Jupiter rolled his eyes and took off after them, the Hyperforce following.

"The door changes location. No door leads to the same place every time," Silhouette explained. "It's to confuse people who make it here and try to get in."

All the doors they passed were miniature versions of the main gate. They had curved, very plain looking silver handles. Silhouette stopped at a random door and said, "Here it is."

The members of the Hyperforce looked at each other. The door looked exactly like all the others they had seen. "How can you tell?"

"Sometimes even Emma loses track of this door," Quint said. He pointed to a door closer to it. "Look at the handles."

They did, and they saw the difference. The handle on all the other doors was on the left side of the door, but on the 'secret entrance' one, the handle was on the right side. No other detail made it stand out from the others.

"Oh," Gibson said, rubbing his chin in thought as Silhouette opened the door. "Wait. No lock?"

"Oh, it has a lock," Silhouette said, grinning. "Only if you know how to unlock it."

Gibson scratched his head. _This must be how Otto feels…_

Silhouette activated a headlight, and guided everyone down a tunnel, deep into the earth.

Instead of it getting darker as they headed down, it got brighter—_much_ brighter. And there were no lights in the tunnel. It was coming from beyond. Soon, the tunnel widened, and the light now blinded them.

Silhouette grabbed a small black cloak hanging from the wall and draped it over her shoulders, pulling the hood up. She trailed to the back of the line, next to Chiro.

"What's up?" the eighteen-year-old asked the young black monkey.

"On, nothing," Silhouette assured him. "My body's just really sensitive to the light."

Chiro raised a brow, but kept on walking…only to bump into Antauri.

All the others had stopped, staring in front of them in awe. The tunnel widened into a cavern, with a river running through it. The walls of the cave had a bluish tint to them, and two tunnels extended from the left and right of the large cavern. But, what really surprised them all was the lush, green grass growing on the ground, and the flowers amongst the blades. There was a phantom wind that blew the plants, just like on the surface.

"It's…" Otto began.

"Amazing!" Gibson said, lacking a better (or longer :P) word. "This is… Amazing!"

"So we've heard, Gibson," Sparx said, rolling his eyes. "How'd all this get here?"

"It was the way the planet was created," Quint informed them. "It is hollow, like Silhouette said. The tunnels extend all the way around the planet, like an underground labyrinth. It is to deter invaders from finding the energy source she told you about, the Light Keystone."

"May I see it?" Gibson asked hopefully.

Quint nodded. "There are seven main tunnels here. And if anything changes the tunnels in any way, like a footprint or a crack, the tunnel walls seem to fix it. It's like they're alive. It's weird."

As they walked to the right tunnel, Gibson ran a hand along the blue stone, watching how it glistened under his fingers. "It's stunning."

They approached the side of the river, and Otto put a foot in it, immediately screeching and jumping back. "It's hot!"

"A hot springs?" Antauri inquired, as Jupiter nodded.

"Indeed. Perfect for the relieving of stressed muscles."

"The Keystone is at the core of the planet," Silhouette said. "Let's go!" With that, she ran down the right tunnel. The others followed.

It took two hours. Silhouette had once again taken the lead. She would go down one tunnel, feel the wall of rock beside her, then turn around and go down another tunnel far behind them. Chiro, Otto and Nova were getting impatient, but by the calm looks on the faces of Quint and Jupiter, they knew that Silhouette knew what she was doing.

That was, until, she came up to a dead end.

"Great, another dead end!" Otto complained. He turned to Maria. "Does she know where she's going?"

Maria smiled and kissed him gently. "Yes, she does."

They all watched as Silhouette lithely climbed up the wall like a spider, crawling to the top to where the wall met the floor. She pressed her fingers against the corner, and pushed with all her strength. The dead end wall fell down with a loud crash that echoed all around them.

When the dust settled, they entered a new room. But they could not look at it, for the light blinded all of them. Silhouette remained in the doorway while they all regained their sight, for she was not blinded. She gently grabbed Sparx's hand and rubbed it with her own. He opened his eyes…to see the most amazing thing ever.

There, underground, was a lake. An underground lake. He gaped at it while his girlfriend giggled beside him. There was a light on the other side of the lake that looked like the rising sun.

The others approached, now able to see, and gawked at the water. Gibson's face looked pale.

"It's…it's…it's…" he stuttered, unable to speak. "Impossible. How could—"

"Water exist where there should be fire?" Silhouette asked. "Who knows? Maybe the doorway into this chamber is a portal to another planet…or maybe it's magic."

Silhouette walked forward to one narrow spit of land, like a bridge all the way outwards. She beckoned to Sparx. "Come on slowpoke!"

With that, she ran off.

Sparx grinned and ran after her, the others following.

Jupiter and Quint looked to each other before flying off above their sister.


	4. Twilight

**Orrean Chronicles**

**Chapter Four: Twilight**

They approached the light after a few minutes. Sparx was behind Silhouette, panting, saying, "Whoa, slow down Princess."

Silhouette grinned and pointed. "That's it."

Sparx looked up to the light, which had dimmed down—if only a little—at their arrival. There was a pedestal in the center of the large 'island', and the light hovered over it.

The light came from a small (about the size of your fist) yellow…rock.

"That's it?" Gibson said, as he and the others approached. "We're protecting a stone?"

Antauri closed his eyes and concentrated. He tried to see if the stone was a living thing, despite its appearances. But yet…

"A power is blocking me from sensing anything in the stone," he said to the others. "It may be living."

"And magic," Silhouette said, sounding tired.

Gibson looked to her. "May I?"

The black monkey nodded. Gibson approached the stone and walked up the steps spiraling around the rather large pedestal. He held up his scanner, and looked at the stone.

The scanner had a reading of 'Power Level Unknown'.

Suddenly, Gibson's scanner blew up. He shrieked and almost fell, but he regained his balance. He slowly reached out to grab the stone, and a voice in his head echoed, _Be careful…_ He took hold of the stone gingerly; it vibrated in his hands. Suddenly, he felt more powerful than ever in his life. A bright flash of light shone from the stone, and it was then he fell back. He landed hard on his back on the stone.

The others ran up to him. "Gibson! Are you okay?" Otto asked.

He nodded and stood. Silhouette looked around her. "We should go. And you should put the Keystone back…"

Gibson nodded and held it up to her. She took a step back. "Um…Quint?"

He nodded and took the stone from Gibson. He reared back his hand, and threw it up to the pedestal. It went over it, but suddenly flung itself backwards to rest where it originally did.

"So, now you know of my power source," a familiar voice said.

Everyone turned around to see Emarelda behind them, standing with her arms crossed in dragon form. "You shouldn't be here without me."

Silhouette hid behind Sparx. He looked at her. "What're you so afraid of?"

"Emma has a temper…" was her answer. "I shouldn't have brought you down here."

"It would be wrong for them to defend something they didn't understand," Jupiter declared.

"No one must touch the Keystone," Emarelda said, "for too long. It will control you to destroy all shadows. So is its nature. Gibson." She looked at the blue monkey. "You did not hold it for too long. Sorry about your scanner."

Gibson looked at the busted remains of his scanner. "It is alright. I will make another one."

"Now you know to never scan things ya don't know about!" Otto said helpfully.

"Otto, that's what a scanner if for," Sparx said, exasperated.

Otto frowned. "Oh."

Emarelda waved a hand over their forms, saying, "Return to the surface."

Their forms faded into multi-colored light, vanishing from the underground.

* * *

Later that night (twilight, really), the Hyperforce all gathered in a large room (the foyer). They were all chattering, talking about 'That weird stone' and 'It's so pretty!' and 'I didn't get to hold it…' and one 'Emarelda's acting strange…' from Sparx.

But, most of all, there was storytelling.

And the only thing the Hyperforce wanted to learn about was Emarelda. So they asked Silhouette and her brothers about the mysterious green dragon.

"Well…" Silhouette began shyly. "No offense to Chiro…" She looked to the only human amongst them. "She's a misanthrope."

Otto scratched his head. "Huh?"

Chiro blinked. "What's that mean."

Gibson also blinked. "The dictionary definition is 'hater of mankind'." Chiro cocked his head, and Gibson sighed. "If Silhouette is right, Emarelda is not fond of human beings."

"She hates humans," Quint said bluntly.

Chiro frowned. "Why?"

Silhouette shrugged. "I'm not very sure… Have you noticed how she ignores you a lot?"

"Now that you mention it, I have noticed she doesn't pay attention to what I say…" Chiro said. "And she didn't seem really happy to see me down near that stone."

"She wasn't," Jupiter said.

Silhouette seemed too nervous to talk to Chiro now, so she just sat there, fiddling with the end of her tail as her brothers did the talking.

"We are not sure about anything else about Emarelda," Jupiter said. "She created Orre as a base, of sorts."

"She created Orre?" Otto asked, sitting up. "How?"

"We don't know that either."

"I was trying to get you guys to leave before Emma sensed we were down there," Silhouette said softly.

"Does she have the Power Primate?" Antauri inquired.

"To her, the Power Primate is nothing," Silhouette explained. "She has the power to change shape, to warp, to turn invisible, to create whole dimensions on a whim. She can also sense anyone's presence, but she can also find any source of energy and bend it to her own uses." She looked down. "Her power is the Light Energy. It's an omnipresent power."

"Huh?" Otto said again.

Gibson rolled his eyes. "It's universal. It means anyone—or any_thing_—can have the power."

"Oh…"

"There's all the power of the elements that exist as the greatest of energies in the universe," Silhouette said slowly. "The Power Primate is merely a semi-section of the Light Energy." She looked up. "A small part."

"But the Power Primate is so powerful…" Antauri said thoughtfully. "If we were to use it as a reference to the Power of the Light, then…"

"It's really strong," Chiro said plainly.

"Pft," Gibson scoffed. "Magic. It is illogical."

"Do not be so quick to lose faith, Gibson," Antauri reminded him. Magic is often called the unexplained science."

"Yeah, Gibby," Emarelda said, entering the room. "How can you explain this palace? This world?" She paused and grinned. "This universe? I laugh at logic. If you want to truly help the universe, you have to let go of logic."

A caw suddenly stopped her short of finishing her explanation. She turned her head to an open window far above them. There was a crow on the windowsill, watching them with beady red eyes.

As the team turned to look at the bird, an electrically charged shot from Emarelda was sent through the air, striking the bird. "Get out of here!!" the dragon yelled.

The crow shook its head, cawed, and flew away.

"He can't be in the vicinity of the palace," Emarelda muttered to Silhouette.

Silhouette nodded, and climbed up the window and out of the room.

Sparx started after her. "Where's she going?"

"To stop that bird," Quint said, crossing his arms, trying to mask his worry for his sister. "That's who we're defending the Keystone from."

"A bird? A freakin' bird?" Sparx asked.

"Language," Antauri said simply.

"Not a bird," Emarelda corrected. "A Shadow Shapeshifter."

"Well, I'm going after her," Sparx declared, flying up to and out of the window.

* * *

Sparx looked out into the pale sunlight for the black monkey. Despite the fact that there was still light out, he could barely see right. The light seemed a pale orange-like yellow.

"Silhouette?" he called.

A sickening slapping sound and a screech caught his attention, and he ran to its source.

But luckily, it was nothing. Well, nothing _bad_. He saw the outline of Silhouette and the bird she had followed out. The bird was flying away after having been ambushed and attacked by the black monkey.

Cracks suddenly appeared in the ground, running along to form a circle around the palace. The crack ran right in front of Silhouette's toes, and when light poured out from the ground, she stumbled back and fell to the ground. A field of light sprang up around the palace, covering it like a force field. The surroundings soon became lighter, like daylight, as the power from the core of the planet protected the castle.

Sparx ran up to her and helped her up. "Are you okay?"

Silhouette squinted. "Yeah…I'm fine. You followed me?"

"Yeah." Sparx grinned. "I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Silhouette smiled. Suddenly, it got darker around them. Silhouette and Sparx both looked around, seeing a line of darkness on the horizon, past the force field.

Heading straight for them.

Silhouette grabbed Sparx's hand. "We need to go back inside!" she said urgently. Sparx nodded and picked her up, activating his jetpack and flying back to the large building.

* * *

"That little son of a —!" Emarelda cursed, but caught herself in front of Antauri. She closed her eyes and growled. "He got into my home, and now he's coming. For real. With his army following him."

Silhouette said nothing, only sat there next to Sparx. "Did he say anything to you?" Emarelda asked the black monkey.

She shook her head. "No."

Emarelda strode over to Otto, who was lying on his stomach in the middle of the room. "Could you move, Otto?"

"Sure," the green monkey said.

As he did so, a pedestal rose up from the floor—with something on it that would probably cause Gibson to faint.

There was a 3-D map of the nearby solar systems, and any planet in between. The display was large, taking up most of the room. It shows the planets in full detail—or as full as you can get, as small as the planets were on the display. A small streak even flew through it, disappearing as it passed the edge of the table—a comet.

"Incredible!" Gibson said. "It's a scientific marvel!"

"Science _and_ magic," Emarelda corrected, taking on the form of a smaller dragon, one who's arms were its wings. She strode through the display of space, up to a yellow planet. Orre. She touched it lightly with her finger (or claw?), and the form of the planet grew larger as the others vanished. The others saw that a large cloud of darkness was spreading from one point on the planet, all coming towards the castle.

Emarelda, with one claw, drew a circle—a ring that went around the planet. Outside of the castle's force field, another protective barrier sprung up.

Emarelda grinned. "That should hold him off for, say, two days." She closed her eyes as the holographic planet zoomed out to show the original display of all the planets. Words appeared next to them, in letters the Hyperforce could understand.

"Hey, look!" Maria said, pointing to a small planet. "There's Shuggazoom!"

There was, indeed, the white planet with purple streaks. On the top was a miniature version of Shuggazoom City. Gibson's eyes sparkled in marvel, and he reached out and tried to touch the planet.

The planet's form shimmered and expanded, just like the image of Orre had done.

"We so need to get one of these," Nova said.

"It took a long time to make it," Emarelda said. "About two years…"

"Are there any extras?" Gibson asked hopefully.

Emarelda nodded as a small metal ball materialized in her hand. She handed it to Gibson. "Here's all I have—a portable prototype."

Gibson held the small golden metal orb, his eyes widening as the metal expanded, forming into a hologram of Shuggazoom.

"It's a better version of your scanner, Brainstrain!" Sparx said.

"It's made of—again—a prototype metal I was working with," Emarelda told them. "But it was finally perfected; it's the same metal Silhouette is made of. It grows to the will of its holder, or in her case…well, you get the point."

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion. The whole castle shook, but only Emarelda knew that it was the whole _planet_ that shook.

Emarelda rushed over and grabbed the doorknob of the door nearest to the group. She switched the side it was on and opened the door, revealing the tunnel underground. "He's coming. We need to get underground!"

Hello! This is me, updating from school! Yes, good ol' school, the place we all love!

Emarelda: _(cough)_ Right...

Anyways, my dad's PC with Internet got hit by a freakin' scam, and I can't use the Internet. I'm sure pirating someone's PC is illegal... But my dad has to get a new computer, so I'll have to update at school...

Anyways... Please review! Thanks to the only few people that have been reviewing... I'd hoped this story would get more recognition.


	5. Light Plus, Shadow Minus

**Orrean Chronicles**

**Chapter Five: Light Plus, Shadow Minus**

Silhouette ran down through the tunnel, the others following close to her as the noises of a battle rang out above them. Emarelda, outside of the palace, was attacking all shadowy creatures with all her power, as the other shadow creatures tore down the rest of her light force field.

It took not long to get to the central chamber, unlike the first time. There stood the Keystone, pulsing with light and unaware of the danger posed to it.

"So, what are we going up against here?" Sparx asked his girlfriend.

"They're shadow beasts," she told them all. "Really strong but about the size of a human. Weak against light, duh, but strong against most other things. If you keep attacking them rapid fire and if you leave them no time to react they will fall apart."

"They were given the most original name in the entire universe," Quint said, rolling his eyes. "Shadow drones. But we call 'em 'Shones'."

"Which is also a unit of monetary value on Amere," Jupiter added.

"Amere?" Gibson echoed. "That sounds familiar."

"It's the elemental world of Darkness," Silhouette said. "It's where my friend Shruikan lives, and it's where I was created."

"Really?" Otto asked. "We've been by there before, but it was too dark to land and the scanners didn't receive anything. Gibson told us he thought it was a black hole."

"It seemed like one at the time…" Gibson said sheepishly.

"Shh," Silhouette whispered. "Listen."

They did. But they heard nothing.

Suddenly, there was an explosion. Darkness spread through the room, hindering everyone's vision. Dark beasts—the Shones—dove into the room. They ignored the Hyperforce and charged straight across the small land bridge to the light.

Silhouette, being noble as she was, forgot the number one rule of her being as she jumped out of the darkness and lifted it with her power, running after the Shones (I want to say the Shones look like the shadow beasts from Twilight Princess but that would be copywriting and I don't want to do that! Ack! Gotta get Twilight Princess out of my head!), her sole desire to keep the stone away from them, for she knew very well what would happen. They turned around immediately as the darkness vanished, the light causing their skin to start to burn. They ignored it, two of them, larger than the others, jumping up to grab the keystone.

"No!" Silhouette said. She knew if they grabbed it, it would all end. _Why can't they take the Shadow Keystone?_ she asked herself.

She jumped onto the wall and pushed herself off, her intent to grab the stone.

"Silhouette!" Quint yelled, flying off after her with his brother in tow.

It was too late. The Shones had their hands near the stone, and two seconds later, both the two Shones and Silhouette had it. Silhouette glared, but in that split second realized her mistake, and by then it as too late.

Suddenly, there was a tremendous flash of light and energy from the stone. Silhouette was blown back into the rock wall while the Shones disintegrated. The black monkey was blown into a wall, falling limp to the floor. The stone floated up a little higher, light shooting out and blasting all the shadow beasts near it.

Suddenly, Emarelda barreled into the room, shooting off energy blasts that defeated most of the Shones, while the Hyperforce finished off the rest.

"Silhouette!" Sparx shouted suddenly, putting away his sparking magnets and running to his girlfriend. Her brothers were kneeling next to her still form, their eyes closed.

Sparx grabbed her hand. Silhouette's colors had inverted; where she was black, she was white, and where she was white, she was black. Her eyes were tightly shut, and she was breathing hard.

"What happened?" Sparx demanded harshly, turning to Emarelda. "What did you do to her?"

"Take her up, and I will tell you," was her answer.

* * *

Silhouette was placed into one of the large tubes in the middle of the room—her healing chamber. It used a kind of healing mist rather than liquid, since Silhouette was afraid of water and could not swim. Suspended in mid-air, her face was serene as the healing chamber did its work. Sparx just sat by the tube as Emarelda explained the situation.

"Why was she hurt by the stone?" Sparx asked, quieter than before.

"Tell me, Gibson, what is a silhouette?" Emarelda asked the blue monkey.

Gibson blinked. "A silhouette is a faint…" He paused.

"Hmn?" Emarelda asked, urging him to continue.

"A silhouette is a faint shadow," he said slowly, now realizing.

"It's the nature of positives and negatives with light and shadow," the green dragon explained. "With magnets, like forces attract and unlike forces repel. The same is with light and shadow. Whenever someone is born, or created, they are either of light or of shadow, or neutral. Most beings are neutral. But Silhouette is of shadow, so touching the Light Keystone hurt her. It repelled her negative energy. It's a defense against shadow. But if enough shadow creatures hold it—or if they're strong enough—the Keystone's defense can be repelled itself."

Sparx lowered his head solemnly.

"I understand now," Gibson said slowly.

"She'll be fine," Emarelda assured the red monkey and Silhouette's brothers. "Let's say something, like, the ions in her body are negatively charged. If they're charged positively at such a fast rate, her body will go into shutdown and reverse. The ions just need to be charged negatively again, which is what the healing chamber is doing now."

"Why can't you do this on your own!" Sparx demanded.

"Those shadow beasts and their leader stole a possession dear to my friend, the Shadow Keystone. I need to get it back, but like Silhouette couldn't touch the Light Keystone, I can't touch the Shadow Keystone. That's where you guys come in. All I need you guys to do is to get that keystone. I can get you close, but if I get too close it will set off a reaction."

"Another living stone?" Nova asked. "How many are there?"

"No, it's not a stone," Emarelda corrected. "It's a skull. A black skull. The term 'Keystone' in my profession, is the term for an artifact of intense power. They can be different items or even people or animals. Ancients made them to channel excess power of the seven elements."

"So, you want the Shadow Keystone to return it to Shruikan?" Antauri concluded.

"That, and because its power is not for the shadow being who wants it."

"So, are there other Key thingies?" Otto asked.

Emarelda nodded. "Seven of them. But they take on other names as well. They are the West Wind Orb, the Tear of Creation, the Cybernetic Earth Cube, the Flame of Resurrection, the Ether Spirit, the Ever-Ending Light and the Shadow Skull. Each has special powers, but none greater than the Ether spirit."

"What does it do?" Nova wondered.

"It has the power to revitalize."

"Huh?" Otto asked, confused.

Emarelda rolled her eyes. "It can bring the dead back to life."

A stir ran through the assembled monkeys.

"But it can also take that life just as easily."

"Interesting," Antauri commented. "I believe I have seen the wind orb before on Koraladoll…"

Emarelda shrugged. "Now they are on their respective home worlds."

"So, what now?" Sparx demanded crossly.

"We will go to the Shones' encampment to try and steal the stone," Emarelda said. "_You_ stay here and watched over Silhouette."

Sparx blinked, then smiled. "I can work with that."

* * *

A crow with red eyes watched from the window, eyes large with disbelief. "A Shadow? How did I not know of this?"

With an angry caw, it flew off.

* * *

Sparx looked up, alarmed, as he heard flapping wings outside an open window. The crow already left, so he didn't see it. He just sat there, resting his chin in his hands, waiting for Silhouette to awaken…

Suddenly, the window broke. The dark bird flew in through the opening, cawing viciously. It hovered, talons extended, as Sparx brought out his magnets. He knew this bird was trouble; otherwise, Emarelda would not have had such a strong reaction last time.

He knew he could beat it. He held out his magnets, shouting, "Magna-Tingler Blast!!"

The bird's form grew and stretched out, twisting around the attack and forming into a larger bird, this one with scales and not feathers. It seemed to grin.

"Petty attacks," it said, hissing. "Foolish creature. Hand over the Shadow."

"Shadow?" Sparx echoed, glaring ahead. "What're you talkin' about, you stupid bird?"

"You know what I mean," it answered simply. "The machine behind you. Hand it over."

"Silhouette?" Sparx asked incredulously. Suddenly, his doom set upon him. A beeping sound. That meant the recharge chamber was done and Silhouette was fully healed. And the bird seized the chance.

"Ah, my prize," it said as Sparx turned around. The bird struck Sparx with its talons, knocking him out and to the ground, bleeding from a wound on his back. The large bird stood on the red monkey's back as the recharging chamber opened, and Silhouette walked out, rubbing her eyes as if she had just woken up.

Her eyes widened as she saw the bird. She took a step backwards before her legs gave out, and she fell to the ground.

Sparx summoned the last of his energy to yell, "Run!" before he fell limp again.

Silhouette slowly got to her feet, glaring at the bird in the same manner Sparx had. "Leave him alone!" she growled.

"You would be wise not to speak, little Shadow," the bird grinned, stepping up to her. "I may be forced to do something even I would not wish upon you. You are too valuable to lose."

Silhouette took another step back. She looked around, desperate to find something to help her. She found nothing, so she did the only thing she could do.

She turned and attacked.

The bird must not have expected her to retaliate, but it quickly knocked her backwards. It took on a humanoid form, like one of a warrior with a sword and a shield.

Silhouette took on the form of a dragon and jumped into the air. She twisted around, landing behind the dark knight. She rammed into its back with her head, causing it to smash into her recharge chamber, which caused an electrical short.

Silhouette returned to normal and kneeled next to Sparx, looking him over. She helped him sit up as he opened his eyes. "Huh?" he said unintelligently. "Wha—?"

Silhouette just laid him back down. "Just sleep, Sparx. I can handle this guy."

She stood back up as Sparx closed his eyes once more. Flames began to form around the healing chamber, the storage containers for the healing mist exploding into magnificent flames. Silhouette shielded her eyes against the growing inferno, activating her communicator, shouting, "Quint! Jupiter! Help!!"

The dark being came barreling towards her, grabbing her and pinning her to the wall by her throat. She struggled to escape, but its grip was too tight and beginning to crush her windpipe. And, that dark sword at her neck didn't help either, the point touching her skin.

"All shadows belong to the side of evil, my dear," the knight hissed, its face close to hers. Silhouette closed her eyes tightly.

Then…

"Hey! Let her go!"

A sword was jabbed through the back of the knight, causing it to go rigid, its shadow blade falling from its fingers. The blade just barely missed hitting Silhouette as she pressed herself further against the wall.

Suddenly, the knight moved to take the sword out of him and threw it back in the direction it came. Sparx was standing there, eyes wide.

Silhouette finally got free enough to kick the knight and run towards Sparx. She tackled him at a high speed, but the sword nearly pierced her tail, if not for a green clawed hand grabbing it.

Silhouette winced after landing hard on her side, breathing hard, while Sparx groaned from the intense pain in his back. They looked on as Emarelda faced off with the shadowy knight. Quint and Jupiter ran to Silhouette and Sparx, standing protectively in front of them.

"I never thought you would stoop so low as to attack an innocent who just wants to help, Temhota," Emarelda said, holding the blade of the sword in her claws. With a flick of her hand, the sword was shattered. She held the shattered pieces in her hands, closing her fingers around them. When her hand opened, the Light Keystone was in the shattered sword's place. Only the small stone was glowing more intensely than ever, so much that it only looked like a speck of light in the dragon's palm, and not a glowing yellow rock.

The shadow knight warily circled her, and Emarelda followed suit. The stone light up the room, showing the knight to be pitch black, with grey highlights.

"From what I know, no one is truly innocent," Temhota said, waving his sword around. "A friend will turn their back."

"Like your kind has friends," Emarelda snarled, tossing the Light Keystone up and down in her hand.

"My kind was _betrayed_," Temhota snarled back.

Emarelda rolled her eyes. "So we've heard. Whatever." She narrowed her gaze. "Leave them alone."

Temhota just looked to the side. Suddenly, he screeched an inhuman screech as Emarelda threw the Keystone at him, striking it in the chest. The light began to burn away the shadow he was made of. He screeched again before turning into a dark-colored dragon. He barreled past Emarelda and dove upwards, breaking down a good section of the roof as he escaped. Emarelda quickly grabbed the chunk of stone, lowering it to the ground before it damaged anything—or anyone—else.

As the others tended to Silhouette and Sparx, Emarelda slowly walked over and picked the Keystone up. It turned a deep sapphire blue, the light reflecting in her eyes.

"I know…" Emarelda said. "Maybe I shouldn't have called them here…"

The stone then turned a ruby red, and Emarelda said sheepishly, "Maybe I shouldn't have kept the four locked up for five years… Maybe I should've let them go."

Then, the stone turned yellow once more. But in its depths was something else…

Gibson had gotten some gauze out in preparation to dress Sparx's wound, but Emarelda grabbed his arm gently. "No need. Allow me, Mr. Hal Gibson."

Emarelda held the Keystone out, watching as it reflected in Sparx's eyes. Emarelda touched the stone to Sparx's chest, and light spread all along the monkey's form. As the light subsided, Sparx figured out there was no wound at all on his back.

Emarelda patted him gently on the shoulder as he looked up at her. "How do you feel?" the dragon asked.

Sparx slowly stood and stretched, saying, "A little bit sore, but otherwise, I'm great! Thanks Emmy!"

If she could have, Emarelda would have blushed. "Don't call me that Sparx!"

Everyone else laughed, and even Antauri chuckled. Sparx turned to Silhouette and gently helped her stand up. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she said a little shakily. "W-What happened? I suddenly wake up, and he—Temhota—is in here trying to kill me! I though we were down underground near the Light Keystone?"

Quint stepped close to her as Sparx stepped back. Her brother embraced her, saying, "I told you not to touch the Keystone. Remember? But you did anyway."

Silhouette's eyes widened. "I…I-I'm sorry… I just…wasn't thinking…" Her eyes began to fill with tears at her mistake.

"Hey, it's okay," Jupiter said gently, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Just think next time, okay?"

Silhouette nodded and smiled. Sparx gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and she smiled more. Quint released her, then looked down.

"Hey, did you guys get the stone?" Sparx asked.

Emarelda shook her head. "No."

"Emarelda, how many people are going to lose their lives in this never-ending battle?" Quint said softly. "What are we fighting for?"

Emarelda blinked. She looked down herself.

"Very well. I will show you," she said slowly. "Be honored you are actually going to see just exactly what it is we are fighting for."

"What is it?" Gibson asked, intrigued.

"The Center of the Universe."

Oo, the Center of the Universe! What is that, you wonder? Not telling! I'll let Emmy do it!

Emarelda: Don't call me that Ashley!


	6. Center Of It All

**Orrean Chronicles**

**Chapter Six: Center of it All**

"The Center of the Universe?" Chiro echoed. "What's that?"

"Exactly what I said," Emarelda said. "The Center of the Universe. I told you before, did I not?"

Chiro groaned. "How will we get there?"

"It's a difficult process for multiple beings," Emarelda stated, turning to Gibson as if he were the one who asked the question, causing Chiro to scowl and cross his arms. Antauri placed a comforting hand on the Chosen One's shoulder.

"I go there once a month," Emarelda continued. "Teleporting one being with a Keystone is easy enough, but teleporting eleven with just one is hard. For this I recommend that we go at noon, the time light is the strongest, and that you all go back to the Super Robot to recharge. If you can, charge even more than 100."

"Interesting," Gibson said, rubbing his chin though thoughtfully.

Antauri nodded. "Monkey Team, to the Super Robot."

Emarelda shook her head. "The Super Robot's underground. I moved it, so the shadow creatures wouldn't destroy it. Silhouette will take you there, won't you?"

Silhouette nodded. A door appeared in front of her, and she opened it. "It's this way…"

So the Hyperforce followed her. Chiro approached Antauri and asked, "What about me?"

"You may stay here, if you wish, or you may come with us," Antauri answered.

Chiro lowered his head in thought.

Emarelda suddenly looked up, eyes wide. She looked to Chiro to see something in him she didn't notice before. She shook her head. _It can't be…_

Then she grinned. "He can stay here. There are plenty of empty rooms, with beds and bathrooms and everything."

Chiro seemed reluctant. "Nah. I'll sleep in my room."

Emarelda nodded, turning and walking off down a hallway. Silhouette guided the Hyperforce down into the underground.

* * *

The monkeys filed into the Super Robot and were instructed by Chiro into their recharging chambers. Otto was excited about being 'honored' to go somewhere that sounded excited, so Gibson instructed him to be very calm once it was time, so he would not use up energy.

Silhouette bid them goodbye before she left, but Gibson had one more question. "Have you ever been to…wherever it is we're going? Aether? You seem to go everywhere Emarelda does."

Silhouette nodded. "Once. Right after I was created. But I can't remember much. I don't like going to Aether, though."

"Why not?" Sparx asked.

"There's a lot of lightning," Silhouette said simply. She gave her boyfriend a kiss on the cheek before saying goodbye once more and leaving. Then the monkeys marched off to their recharging chamber.

* * *

Emarelda activated the holographic projection of outer space. She studied it for a moment, looking intently at what seemed to be an empty void in space, but she knew otherwise.

Silhouette exited from the door she came out of, and it vanished behind her. A teleportation platform had been left behind for the Hyperforce once they were ready, and once noon came. She noticed Emarelda looking at the display. "What'cha doing?" the black monkey asked innocently, approaching the dragon.

"I think I found it," Emarelda said simply.

"Found what?"

"The Cybernetic Earth Cube."

"You mean you didn't know where it was?"

"It was in a living being, born on Earth. All of the Keystones are in living organisms, but of all things, it had to be a human. Why couldn't it have been a fish?"

"Who?" Silhouette persisted.

Emarelda turned into a robotic monkey and floated upside down, touching the hologram of Earth. Another hologram appeared next to it, one of a leaf with black cubes around it. The cube kept folding up and unfolding (the best description I can give is the GameCube logo for anyone that has a GameCube).

Silhouette grabbed the side of the table to look over it, since she was just a bit shorter than the table itself. "So who has it?"

It showed birth records of all humans born on earth in the last twenty years, scrolling through all of them. It stopped at one whose name was 'Brent Stalin'. Emarelda cocked her head at this as the projector brought up an image of Chiro, and all of his past records.

Suddenly, a male computerized voice said, _"DNA Match Confirmed."_

"So he was born on Earth," Emarelda said, grinning. "All this time I've let an Earthling into my abode. No wonder I didn't kick him out." She turned to Silhouette and picked her up, standing her on the table for a better look. "Chiro is the holder of the Cybernetic Earth Cube."

Silhouette let out a small gasp. "Oh my God…"

"But it doesn't make sense," Emarelda said. "How would a human family learn of Shuggazoom and get the means to travel there?"

"Maybe they were taking a vacation?" Silhouette suggested, sitting on the edge of the table.

Emarelda just shook her head. "Those details are irrelevant. I should have been nicer to him, but I just didn't see what he held. No wonder he's the Chosen One of the Power Primate."

"Why?"

"There's a power that protects each world. The Power Primate protects the world of humans."

Silhouette just hummed thoughtfully. Emarelda picked her off the table and nudged her towards the recharging chamber. "You'll need all the energy you've got for this. I think it'll be a close call this time, even with my limitless power."

"Aw…" Silhouette whined like a little girl. "But I already recharged."

"And you've been walking around for several hours after that. Go."

Silhouette finally complied and walked off.

When Emarelda heard the beeping of the recharging chamber starting up, she pressed another button on the panel of the table. There were four holograms showing something that looked like a pinkish flame, a crystal blue tear-shaped smooth stone, pulsing with life, a leaf with black cubes around it (the Cybernetic Earth Cube), and an orb with a miniature tornado inside.

The backgrounds of all but one were green. Emarelda watched as the background for the Earth Cube became green as well.

"I've got all seven," she said slowly. "Well, I know where they all are now and…why am I talking to myself?"

She just laughed at herself and shut of the projection, and the table lowered itself into the floor.

* * *

It was now noon. Emarelda was on top of her palace, her tail coiled around the spire and her wings spread out as she looked up to see the sun right above her. She smiled as she felt the sunlight.

"Time," she said, with effort.

She entered the main room, where the Hyperforce and the others were waiting. "It's time guys," Emarelda said. "All of you hold hands. Hurry."

They did so, and Emarelda brought the Keystone forth and placed it before them all. The light shone brightly, and suddenly, spread all around them, making them seem as if they were in a tunnel. Emarelda picked the stone up and chucked it into the tunnel, and the Hyperforce began to feel a tugging feeling on them as their strength faded quickly. Emarelda didn't lie.

Sooner than they thought, it was over. The light was gone and there were steady rumbles around them. They all collapsed to the ground, and Emarelda took deep, calming breaths to steady herself, as did Antauri. Antauri was not as weakened as the others, but still did not have the strength to stand.

"You guys almost didn't make it," Emarelda said. "Sorry."

So they stayed put while their strength returned. Silhouette laid her head on Sparx's should, completely exhausted, as he wrapped his arm around her. Otto did the same with Maria, while Quint had Nova's head resting on his chest as he leaned back with his eyes closed.

After about thirty minutes, they could all stand up. When they did, the Hyperforce gaped at the sight before them.

It was a sea of clouds. They were on a monastery-like open building on the top of a mountain that pierced the clouds. Quick flashes of lightning appeared on the tops of the clouds, but some went _up_ into the sky, as well as down to the ground. A railing was all that separated them from the abyss that was the sky all the way to the ground, and they all crowded around one side.

"Hyperforce, welcome to Aether," Emarelda said grandly. "The beginning and the end."

Gibson was even more amazed. "It's breathtaking! Is there any planet below us?"

"Yes, but we're really high up. The entire planet is covered by a layer of electrically charged clouds, and not many creatures are native here."

She turned to face the center of the smallish building, where a grand pedestal was. "_That_ is what we're fighting for."

They all turned around to see…a lantern. A simple orange, Chinese-style lantern. In the center was a small lightning bolt that continuously flashed and sparked, but never went from outside the lantern. It floated in the center; despite its small size, it had an air of immense power about it.

"That's it?" Otto asked? "I though it would be something better."

"Anyone ever heard of the Big Bang Theory from Earth?" Emarelda randomly asked.

"I have," Chiro said. "They say the universe was made is one big explosion of matter. Right?"

"Right," Emarelda stated. "The first things created by whatever made the Big Bang happen created the Seven Keystones. The Lightning Keystone, or the Ether Spirit, was made for one purpose, and one only."

"Life," Antauri said softly.

"Yup. It made the first beings, then went on to create all sentient and non-sentient beings. It can take life away, but that is Shadow's purpose. Light assists, Shadow ends, Water heals, Fire restores, Earth supports, and Air commands. They all have a purpose."

"Very intriguing," Antauri stated, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he closed his eyes.

"Can we go down there?" Otto asked, pointing down over the railing.

"Sure, if you want your circuits to fry," Emarelda said, nodding.

Silhouette looked hesitantly over the railing, as did Maria. Both girls screamed and fell back as a huge lightning bolt shot upwards. The lantern behind them shot out another bolt that cancelled out the other one as it seemingly reared back to attack.

The lantern floated away from its pedestal and approached the railing, moving of its own accord. Everyone watched as it seemingly looked over the railing, paused, then floated back to where it was before. It jiggled up and down, swinging back and forth.

"No, no, we'll have none of that," Emarelda chided, holding the small lantern steady. It immediately froze in place.

"None of what?" Antauri questioned.

Emarelda smiled sheepishly. "Attacking." She turned to the lantern. "Ether Spirit, they are friends."

The lantern did nothing.

"Okay, do you wish to leave?" Emarelda asked, clapping her hands together. She began looking around anxiously.

"Yes, please," Silhouette said shakily.

"Hey, don't worry babe," Sparx said, winking and wrapping his arms around her. "If that silly lantern tries to hurt you, I'll stop it."

Silhouette smiled.

Emarelda just laughed. "If the lantern sees you fit to die, then there's nothing stopping it except another Keystone. Powerful magic requires powerful magic to prevent it."

"I believe I now know what it is we are protecting," Antauri said nobly. "This place has an aura about it. It's were life begins and ends."

Emarelda smiled. "I'll take us back. It's easier to get to Orre than it is to get here."

The light shone once more, and the last thing everyone saw was the Ether Spirit sending off an electrical discharge in all directions…

* * *

The trip home was easy enough. Everyone (except Emarelda) decided to stay in the Super Robot for the rest of the day and that night. Emarelda remained in her palace.

Underground, it was still around noon, so everyone decided to take a little break. For some reason, there was a whole meadow underground, with a light in the ceiling that acted like a sun. Antauri decided to meditate on a stone that seemed just for the purpose, Gibson was reading a book, Chiro, Otto and Maria were inside playing video games, Quint and Nova were merely sitting side by side near a small brook, and Sparx and Silhouette were chasing each other around.

Antauri was in the deepest meditation he had ever been in, his own mind melding with the energy of the planet itself.

Suddenly, he saw something. Several glowing lights, forming into creatures; a buffalo, a fish-like person, a four-legged creature made of lava, and a monkey. They all looked to him slowly, and though he couldn't distinguish any other details, Antauri knew they seemed to be calling for help. The two other shapes didn't form into anything at all—they were just lights.

His eyes snapped open, and he gasped for air. He didn't realize he wasn't breathing. A concerned Gibson was next to him. "Antauri! Are you okay?"

Antauri nodded, placing a hand over his frantically beating heart. "Yes, Gibson. I am fine. Thank you for your concern, though."

Gibson nodded; the kind of nod that said, 'I don't believe you'. But he walked away nonetheless, sitting under a tree and taking out the book he was reading.

Antauri closed his eyes once more, trying to locate the disturbance he felt. But the planet's energy was too powerful, and it blocked his mind probe.

_**SRMTHFG SRMTHFG SRMTHFG SRMTHFG SRMTHFG SRMTHFG SRMTHFG SRMTHFG**_

She was reassured. They were all underground. Sure, the silver monkey saw them, but she wasn't bothered by him. A mere robot could not stop her.

Pressing a button on the table, five glass tubes rose from the ground, in a circle. In the tubes were living creatures. They all looked at her, worried.

"You call him again, and I'll have to take the Keystones forcibly from you," she said, growling. "That won't feel good at all."

In the tubes were the creatures Antauri saw in his vision—a bison (like Appa from Avatar), a fish-like creature (like a Zora from Legend of Zelda), with blue and yellow scales, and a quadruped fire beast (like the Pokémon Heatran).

"You can't keep us locked up here forever!" the fish-person yelled, banging on the glass, an aura of rage around her. "We'll get out! We'll escape!" The other two beasts roared their agreement.

"I think not," the other said. "It took too long to find you three. And now that I know where the Keystones of Shadow and Earth are, you won't be here for long."

She looked towards the two empty tubes. They were labeled with a symbol—one of Earth, and one of Shadow. Those two remained to be filled, but she knew where they were. The tubes slowly lowered back into the floor, the creatures' yells and roars dying down.

"Once I have the Shadow and Earth Keystones, they will pay…" She brought up the holographic image, this time of Earth. "All of them…"

Okay, she's not _really_ evil, but she makes a menacing villain and will be hard to stop.


	7. Got It!

**Orrean Chronicles**

**Chapter Seven: Got It!**

Silhouette jolted awake, breathing hard. She looked around. _I…I fell asleep?_

"Mornin' sleeping beauty," a voice next to her said. Silhouette yawned and stretched as two hands landed on her shoulders, rubbing them gently. She looked up, and her orange eyes met Sparx's black ones.

"When did I fall asleep?" she asked.

"A few hours ago. It's around midnight now… At least, I think it is…"

"_How_ did I fall asleep?"

Sparx chuckled and pulled her closer. "I guess you just got tired."

Silhouette nodded. "Should we go inside?"

"Nah. It's nice outside. Or…inside? It's hard to tell underground."

Silhouette grinned. "I never did find that out. Is everyone else inside?"

"I think. It's dark…here…so I can't tell if anyone left the Super Robot."

"Hmm…"

Sparx just laid her down on the soft grass. "Go to sleep. Tomorrow Emma said we'll have to attack. You need sleep."

"What about you?"

"I'll go to sleep later. I can last a few hours."

Silhouette yawned. She was tired. She never used to be this drained of energy, but she and her brothers—and Emma—knew why. And it had nothing to do with the _Light_ Keystone.

These thoughts soon faded away as she fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

She woke up again; this time, it was brighter out and she could see. But what she saw didn't matter—it was what she heard.

"Sparx?" She looked around. Her red boyfriend was nowhere to be seen. "Sparx, are you there?"

The meadow around her was filled with mist, which she knew was impossible—underground. She stood, panicked, and started walking, calling for someone.

"Antauri? Chiro? Otto? Anyone?"

Suddenly, she was shoved to the ground. "Silhouette, get down!"

"Quint?" Silhouette asked. "What's going on?"

"Shones attacked us under here," he said. "You need to get out of here!"

Silhouette blinked. "W-Wha? How did they get under here?"

Quint did not answer. Because he was gone. "Quint?"

Then, her vision clouded over. In the blackness, she felt herself being lifted by something and being slammed into the wall, her body soon becoming numb.

* * *

Sparx jolted awake by the sound of an explosion. Silhouette was in the air, in her dragon shape, slamming her body into the rocky walls repeatedly. She flew towards the Super Robot and rammed into it, causing it to fall over and the wall behind it to give away, breaking into another chamber.

"Silhouette!" Sparx yelled.

His girlfriend continued to ram into walls, like a horse gone wild from its rider.

Rider…

Sparx got an idea just as the others ran from the fallen machine. Sparx flew into the air, jumping onto the robotic dragon's back and grabbing onto her horns. She let out a roar, and tried to shake him off. Sparx held on tight, but soon a voice echoed to him.

"Her suffering can end, pathetic biped… Just give the shadow to me…"

Sparx glared. "You jerk! Stop hurting her!"

As Silhouette stopped moving and hovered in the air, the voice cackled, "She's mine now…"

"No."

Sparx turned to see Emarelda floating next to them. Beside her was a black dragon, slightly larger than her.

"It's mine," she growled, looking more determined than ever.

There, in the black dragon's hand, was the Shadow Keystone.

The voice gasped, and a black cloud appeared. Suddenly, Sparx and Silhouette fell, falling to the ground with a large explosion. Sparx landed next to Silhouette, who was now in her normal form.

"All shadows belong to me!" Temhota bellowed. "It is the way of the world and the universe!"

"You have a big ego, you know?" the black dragon said. "Shadows belong to no one, and those in need of a master belong to me. You know that. Are you trying to…replace me?"

Temhota blinked. "I thought I killed you."

"Ha!" Emarelda laughed. "That's rich! If you killed him, then you've killed the living link to the Shadow Keystone, and shadows themselves."

Shruikan tossed the skull up and down menacingly. "You cheated your way to power, Temhota. I warned you about the dangers of shadow to one not used to such energy. This is why only shadow spirits are allowed on Amere."

Shruikan wrapped his fingers around the skull, digging his claws into the crystal. Temhota screeched, light piercing from inside of his form, and from inside the stone. Soon his form vanished, and Shruikan dropped the stone to the grass below.

"It was your time anyway," Emarelda murmured.

Both Shruikan and Emarelda slowly lowered to the ground, the black dragon picking up the black skull. He looked forlornly at Emarelda, who walked over to Sparx.

"You okay?"

Sparx nodded. "I am…"

Silhouette groaned and sat up. "I am… I think."

"No. You're not." Shruikan approached the young black monkey, holding the skull out to her. "I think this is yours, Silhouette."

Silhouette nodded as Sparx watched on. She held the Keystone gingerly in her fingers, and a wave of shadow energy shot out. Silhouette was at peace as the Keystone vanished, and her body took on a grayish glow instead.

"Silhouette, are you alright?" Sparx asked.

She smiled. "I feel better than ever, Sparx."

He grinned and hugged her close. "Well, that's all that matters."

"Aw, that's so sweet," Shruikan said. "Well, I'm going back to Amere. Be nice to each other, everyone." He turned to Emarelda. "Farewell, sister."

"Farewell, brother," Emarelda answered.

Shruikan nodded, turned, and jumped into the air with a flap of his wings. He vanished into thin air, and Emarelda turned to the others.

"Shruikan is your brother?" Sparx asked.

Emarelda tilted her head. "Yes…and no. We're like Ying and Yang. Two sides of the same coin. We're as close as siblings, but also not."

"And what did he mean by the Shadow Keystone belonging to Silhouette?" Sparx looked back at the black monkey, who was looking at her hands, not listening.

"Just what he said. She's the Keystone's keeper. She protects it."

"Keeper? Who keeps the Light Keystone?"

"Uh, duh. Me."

"And who keeps the Lightning one?"

"Um… No one, at the moment. The Keeper has been lost for years through a reincarnation cycle."

"Is it anyone we know?"

"I don't know."

"Oh."

"So… Now that Mr. Angry and Mean Devil is gone, we can go home, right?" Sparx asked.

Emarelda blinked, then looked to Chiro as he and the others came running up. "If your leader says so."

Chiro tried not to stutter from the look in the dragon's eyes. "We'll stay for a few days. The Super Robot needs to recharge, anyway."

The team nodded. Antauri, however, didn't.

* * *

It was late at night (twilight, whatever) when Antauri awoke and found his way back to the palace. He entered the foyer, and saw Emarelda messing with something.

"What are you doing up so late?" he asked.

"I should ask you the same question, Antauri," she said, not turning around.

"You're planning something. What are you up to?"

"Heh. And I always thought Gibson was he smart one. I guess he'd too _dumb_ to figure out magic."

Antauri flinched at the tone in her voice—it sounded so…malevolent. The green dragon turned and grinned at him. Not friendly-like.

"You saw them. I know. It's too late, though."

"We're leaving, now," Antauri stated. He turned to leave. "I'm going to get Chiro—"

"No, no," Emarelda said sweetly, grabbing his arm gently and guiding him to a chair. "Why don't you sit, stay…" As she shoved him into the chair, he figured out he couldn't move. Nothing was restraining him, though. He just couldn't move. "…and listen to what I have to say," Emarelda finished.

She strode over on all fours to the center of the room and sat, facing the silver room. "Answer me this…" she murmured. "What is the Power Primate?"

Antauri glared, but answered. "It is a mystical force that gives the user—"

"Wrong!" Emarelda chuckled. "You never learned, did you? Why the Power Primate was created, and by whom?"

Antauri hated to admit it. "No," he said hoarsely. "I never learned."

Emarelda chuckled again; this time the laugh of one who knew more than you did, and it was not good. "I shall tell you then, monkey. Listen and learn.

"You know that the Keystones protect the elements. But what protects the planet of that element. The planets that focus on the elements go by these names: Aero, Oceania, Earth, Infuego, Aether, Orre and Amere. In order. They are special worlds that are protected by a certain mystical power granted to the keeper of the respective Keystone. I though the Power Primate was weak, but that's only because he hasn't unlocked his full potential."

"Who?" Antauri demanded, trying to get free.

Emarelda just smiled grandly and shook her head. "You really are dumb. I must put it to you bluntly, then." She leaned forward and whispered in his ear. "Your pathetic _Chosen One_. He holds the Earth Keystone, and the power that protects Earth. The Power Primate."

Antauri blinked, and his heart nearly stopped. "What do you want with him?"

"You know what I want. The Earth Keystone."

Antauri growled.

"Why the Spirits of Earth gave a _human_ the power I'll never know," Emarelda continued. "Humans are undeserving of such power."

"Silhouette said you were a misanthrope."

"She was wrong," Emarelda laughed. "I don't _hate_ mankind." She leaned back and spread her wings. "I downright _despise_ them."

Antauri was suddenly lifted up by a telekinetic force, and Emarelda glared at him. "Well, I've taught you. But, I can't have to go blabbing off to the others." She grinned. "No, not when I hate two targets now."

"Is that the only reason you called us here?"

"Silhouette has been in massive recharge for these past years. That year she and her brothers, and Maria, met you guys, the Shadow Keystone was stolen. From Silhouette. It was her main power source, and it takes a lot of energy to power her robotic body. So, I left to recharge her. Did you wonder why she was always drained of energy when she was with you guys? I took her here, and it took five years to recharge her lost energy. Only then did I decide to start my plan. You guys would get the Shadow Keystone, and then I would get Silhouette. But I guess some other power bid me to call you here. As you can see, Shruikan easily recaptured the Keystone."

She jumped into the air and floated backwards. "Now I have Earth and Shadow, in addition to Air, Water, Fire, Lightning and Light. All seven Keystones."

Antauri growled. "And what do you intend to do with them?"

"What is magic?"

The silver monkey blinked. "I don't know specifically."

"Nor do I. I only know the facts. Tell me this. Do you—not specifically—know what magic is _not_?"

Antauri was confused. "Um…"

Emarelda rolled her eyes. "Okay, magic is rarely one thing. Do you know what that one thing is?"

Antauri shook his head. "Divine?"

"Specific," Emarelda corrected. "And what I love, more than anything, is whatever is specific. If you cast a magic spell to destroy someone called…Nova…" Emarelda grinned. "Then the spell would destroy _anyone_ with that name. It doesn't know which Nova you mean." She giggled mischievously. "It would kill them all.

"And, like I said, specific magic is lovely. With all the Keystones in one place, you can control their magic to the most precise it can be. And I know exactly what to do with that power."

With a sudden wave of her hand, Antauri's memory suddenly faded away, leaving no trace of suspicion, or doubt.

* * *

It was still late at night when all light suddenly vanished. If one was awake, they would have seen a thin line of light float noiselessly through the halls of the palace.

The door to Silhouette's room opened silently. The black monkey was in her bed, curled up at Sparx's side. The light slowly inched over, grabbing Silhouette's arm and picking her up, taking her out of the room.

Then, the door to Chiro's room opened. The boy was also asleep, and the light took him from his bed as well, closing the door silently.

Suddenly, the another door opened. Quint came out of his room, rubbing his eye sleepily. "Hello?" he called softly.

The light clung to the ceiling, trying not to be seen. But in the dull light it produced, it looked like the normal amount of darkness this planet was bathed in at this late hour. Quint shrugged, finding nothing, and went back to bed.

The light carried the two sleeping figures into the large main room, where two open capsules were waiting, along with the other three, where the creatures were fast asleep. The light placed Silhouette in the tube labeled 'Shadow' and Chiro in the one labeled 'Earth'. The light fully returned to the place, signifying daytime.

Emarelda snickered. Perfect. All was going according to plan.

* * *

Oo… Spooky.

And the chapter name has two meanings. 'Got It!' as in "I have the Shadow Keystone", and 'Got It!' as in Emarelda threatening Antauri.


	8. Cease and Desist!

**Orrean Chronicles**

**Chapter Eight: Cease and Desist!**

"_Silhouette!!_"

The shrill cry of Sparx flew through the halls of the Super Robot, the red monkey seemingly breaking his own sound barrier as he ran through the halls. The others were awoken by this shrill screech; all but Antauri. The silver monkey was exhausted.

Quint stumbled out of his room, crashing into the ruby monkey. "What's wrong Sparx?" Nova came up behind the two, watching with wide eyes.

"I can't find Silhouette!" Sparx said frantically, waving his arms. "She …slept with me…last night… Um…" Sparx averted his eyes from his girlfriend's brother. "And when I woke up, she was gone!"

Quint blinked. "She may be in the foyer…" he said shakily, hoping with his life that she was. "I hope."

Nova kissed the orange monkey's cheek. "I bet you she is. Don't worry."

Otto now ran out of his room with Maria in tow, tripping and falling over his own feet. Maria helped him up, and asked, "What happened?"

But Sparx and Quint had already run off. Nova answered by saying, "Silhouette's gone. Sparx woke up and said she wasn't there with him." She quietly chuckled. "She's a sweet girl. I hope nothing's happened…"

But Maria had run off, too.

* * *

In the foyer, all was normal. Sparx looked everywhere, but she was nowhere to be found. Then, things got even more complicated as Antauri came down.

"Has anyone seen Chiro?" the silver monkey asked. "He is not in his room."

Jupiter looked to the ceiling. "All is silent…" he murmured. "The doors have not switched, Emarelda has not come out, and two of our own are missing."

"I'm worried something bad has happened," Maria said. "What if—"

Suddenly, the air became still. Unconsciously, the eight monkeys got into a circle, back to back, with their weapons out. Jupiter suddenly stepped forward.

"Emarelda!" he yelled. "Where is she!?"

A light chuckling faded into hearing, and Quint stepped next to his brother. "Emarelda!!"

Sparx stepped forward. "What's going on?" His voice was shaky.

"Something that shouldn't," Quint answered. He called to the dragon again. "Emarelda!! Let my sister go!"

"I'm afraid I cannot do that…" her voice murmured.

Antauri's eyes suddenly snapped open wide. "I remember!" he yelled.

"Remember what?" Gibson asked worriedly.

"Emarelda caught me last night as I was walking through the castle. She said she would use the Keystones for…'specific magic'. But she never told me what for."

"She doesn't have the Earth one though!" Quint said.

"She does now," Antauri told them. "Chiro."

Suddenly, a sudden rumbling caught their attention as the ground bucked and moved of its own accord. Quint pushed Sparx away before jumping away himself. The Super Robot burst through the floor, rising up to destroy a good part of the castle to get to the sky. The eyes of the Super Robot were different—multicolored.

The Super Robot gazed at them, before a shrill scream caught their attention. "_Sparx!_"

It was Silhouette.

The Super Robot was holding the table with the holograms in its hands, but instead of holograms, there were five tubes, each with something in them. Three creatures the monkeys below had never seen before, but in one was Chiro, banging his fists against the glass, and in another was Silhouette, doing the same as Chiro.

"Monkey Team!" Chiro called.

"Chiro!" Nova called. She activated her jetpack, as Sparx dove into the air after her.

As they neared the Super Robot, it aimed its fingers at them and shot the missiles out. Sparx and Nova avoided them, but the foot of the Super Robot was brought up to deliver a thundering kick to the two monkeys, and they landed with a thud on the ground next to the ruins of the collapsing castle.

Before the Super Robot left, Sparx could see Silhouette, calling for him, sobbing. Then, the Super Robot turned and flew off, its jets propelling it into space.

Sparx sat down and covered his eyes, shaking his head. "No… No, no, no!"

"My sister, being used for power," Quint muttered, clenching his fists. "I never knew Emarelda was _that_ heartless…"

"Where did she take them?" Antauri demanded of the orange monkey.

Quint sighed, and he closed his eyes. "Aether."

"Well that's just freakin' great!" Sparx yelled, throwing his hands up. He continued to mope.

"We can't get there…" Otto said. "Emma said herself. We can't get there…"

"Unless you have someone to guide you," a voice said.

Everyone but Sparx turned to see Shruikan, the black dragon, standing behind them. He approached, saying, "I'm sorry for your loss. Knowing Emarelda, she will keep these five under lock and key, so you will never get to them. But if her plan is disrupted, then she will give up. She knows when she is beat."

"What if this time is different?" Jupiter questioned.

Shruikan closed his eyes. "We fight to the end."

He turned to everyone else and opened his eyes. "I can take you all to Aether. You want to go?"

Sparx jumped up. "Hell yeah we do! You crazy?"

Shruikan smiled. "You must be Sparx. Silhouette told me all about you."

"What'd she say?"

"She said you're the best person she's ever met," he told the red monkey. "And she said that…if she ever dies, then she wanted you to guard the Shadow Keystone—her heart."

Sparx shook his head. "She'll guard it forever. That I can promise."

Shruikan smiled. "I'm sorry to say that, since I do not have a Keystone, it will be harder to get to Aether. So, we'll have to go the longer—and dangerous—way…flying."

* * *

The temple on the top of the mountain was serene, as always, with one exception—the Ether Spirit was gone.

Far away, on another mountaintop, a large weapon had been placed. The table with the seven Keystones was at the base of the weapon, which resembled a large laser but that Silhouette knew otherwise. The other two Keystones, the Light one and the Lightning one, were floating in the center of similar capsules to the others.

The black monkey tightly hugged a pillow that the green dragon had kindly given her, for some reason. She watched at Emarelda walked about. No cables connected the capsules to the laser, but none were needed. There were yellow dragons everywhere, obeying orders from the only green dragon amongst them; obviously Emarelda had enlisted their help. Help from the lightning breathers.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as a yellow dragon struck his fist on the glass of her container; she buried her face in the pillow as her body shook. The glass was unbreakable, except to the person who made it. Emarelda.

Chiro pressed his fingers against the glass. The dragons passing were giving him dirty looks; he knew it was the power of the green dragon that was once their ally that prevented the dragons from killing him right then and there. He looked around, straining to see around the field of his vision, before he turned to see Silhouette in the glass container next to him.

"Don't worry Silhouette," he tried to comfort. "The monkeys will get here, and they'll stop her."

"No, no…" Silhouette moaned. "They can't…can't get here without a Keystone…"

"They can," Chiro said, his face determined.

"How could Emarelda do this? She was my friend…our friend…and she did this…" Silhouette kept muttering to herself, mostly repeating things. Chiro stopped listening after a while, trying to find a way out, before he heard the black monkey whine, "I'm about to lose everything I've ever known…"

She stood and slammed her fists on the glass, and Chiro was shocked to see a nasty crack appear along the glass. The crack soon vanished, and Silhouette fell miserably back to the floor before crying herself to sleep.

"Monkey Team…" Chiro muttered, looking to the starry sky. "Where are you?"

"Nowhere close, I can assure you that," Emarelda said, approaching him. "Sorry for the sudden change in loyalty, but something made me call you to Orre. And I found out you hold the last Keystone—the one that's been missing for years! But a human is unworthy of such power…"

With that, she flew off, back to the controls. The controls to the laser looked like a simple metal plate in the shape of a sun-like symbol (my Light symbol), but when Emarelda touched it, lights shone in different colors, like buttons, and the laser itself hummed.

Chiro felt his energy drain slowly, but was replaced by more energy that was quickly taken. It felt like a pushing and pulling on his body.

He took this time to observe the other creatures Emarelda had captured. One of them resembled a buffalo, with white fur and six legs. It had a light brown arrow on its head, and light blue eyes. It had the tail of a manatee, and horns. It looked at him with solemn eyes, and roared.

The other one was a four-legged creature made of lava. The ends of its four-toed feet were made of steel. Its mouth and the crown of its head were also metallic, and its eyes blazed a fiery red as it turned to look at him.

The other was a bluish-grey fish-like person. The fin on its head was like a long, pointed hat, with white dots along the sides. It had webbed feet and hands, and had deep blue claws. It turned to look at him, startled. "You are Earth?"

Chiro blinked. "I'm Chiro…"

"You hold the Keystone of Earth," the fish said. She stepped closer, but the glass held them apart. "I am sorry for this misfortune. The Spirit of Earth would not want this."

Chiro nodded. "I thought Emarelda could be trusted, but I was wrong."

"She deceived us all, but we were locked up for about a year," the fish woman said. She smiled warmly. "I am Ausa, and that is Fero," she pointed to the magma creature, "and that is Dniw," she pointed to the white bison.

"Nice to meet you all," Chiro said, not sure what to say to the two animals who could not talk. "I'm Chiro, and that's Silhouette." He turned to the black monkey, who was still asleep. Chiro sighed.

Ausa shook her head sadly. She leaned down, since her tube was near Silhouette's, and said, "Silhouette. It's me. Ausa. Wake up."

"Mmm…" Silhouette moaned. "Go away…"

"She's upset," Chiro said. "She's never been betrayed, and the person she likes can't get here without a Keystone…"

Emarelda appeared next to Chiro and grinned. "That's right. Only a Keystone or its wielder has the power to get here."

"You don't have to rub it in you freak," Chiro growled, glaring daggers at the dragon. "I trusted you."

"_We_ trusted you," Ausa said.

Emarelda smiled listlessly. "Ah, trust…" she whispered. Her voice changed to a harsh tone, yet with a hint of gentleness. "A person's ultimate downfall."

Silhouette woke up and began to cry more, and Emarelda banged her fist on the glass. "Shut up and it won't hurt you too much."

Silhouette sniffed and immediately quieted down.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Chiro demanded.

Emarelda chuckled. "And how are you going to stop me?"

Chiro's mouth moved, as if he wanted to say something, but he thought better of it and lowered his head.

"That's what I thought."

The laser hummed again, and Emarelda's eyes lit up as she turned to it. "You can at least tell us your plan," Chiro told her.

"I want the most specific magic in the universe for this plan, because any other tampering with the natural balance, and we can kiss the element Earth goodbye," Emarelda said. "The human race has had their age of luxury. It time for them to go."

"You're gonna destroy the human race?" Chiro asked incredulously.

Emarelda nodded.

"What did they ever do to you?"

Emarelda did not answer.

"What about me?"

"You are a special human, little boy. Count your blessing and hold your tongue."

Chiro shut up.

Ausa did not. "You are a vindictive being, Emarelda."

Emarelda made a mock frightened face. "Oh, no, the Zora hates me. What_ever_ shall I do?"

Ausa glared. "_You_ should count _your_ blessings that I don't tear you apart!!"

"Temper, dear Ausa," Emarelda said simply. She sighed. "Listen. You won't die, you won't lose your power, and you will only feel faint after this is over. It's not gonna do anything to you."

"What about the Earthlings?"

"It's gonna do a _lot_ to them."

Emarelda strode over to the two creatures who could not talk. Or could they? "Speak, you two."

"Horrible fire-breather," Fero—the magma creature—spat out. His voice was smooth, but hesitant.

"Cruel sky dweller," Dniw growled, his voice rough.

Emarelda smiled.

Dniw and Fero turned away from her as the green dragon flew off.

"You can talk?" Chiro asked.

"I taught them English," Ausa said. "Both of their species' rarely speak, but they do have their own language. They don't know a lot of English, though. Just some."

"The laser is powered up," a yellow dragon informed Emarelda.

"Coolio," she said.

"Not like it's gonna get you anywhere!!" a voice screeched.

Emarelda's eyes widened and she growled, looking up. In the sky was the Hyperforce, hovering in front of them. All of them had their weapons out, but Sparx's were crackling with deathly black electricity.

"Traitor," Emarelda whispered.

The electricity flowed through the crowd of assembled dragons, causing them all to scream and fly away.

A power overtook the monkeys' bodies and they were roughly thrown to the ground, a multi-colored energy covering them separately, like the other confinements. They glared as Emarelda came up to them, sneering.

"I see you have taken them here, Shruikan," Emarelda sneered, reaching through the energy to grab the red monkey by the neck and walking off with him. The red monkey's fur was darker, and his eyes were even blacker than usual. He gave Emarelda an evil look, and she just chuckled. "Lucky for me, I know your one true weakness, dear _brother_."

She approached the tube with the Light Keystone, shoving Sparx through the glass. A scream followed, but not from the red monkey himself—from the Shadow Lord, Shruikan. A dark mist flew out of the glass and away. Emarelda smiled and took Sparx out, who tried to reach his head around and bite Emarelda's hand. He succeeded in doing so, and Emarelda screeched and threw him the opposite direction, holding her hand, hissing as it started bleeding.

Sparx ran over to Silhouette's confinement, banging on the glass. "Silhouette? Silhouette, wake up! It's me!"

Silhouette moved and turned to him. His heart broke at the look in her eyes. Betrayal. Hate. Fear.

She sat near the glass and put her hands over Sparx's through the glass, smiling a small smile. He smiled back at her, and said, "I'll get you outta here."

She looked behind him. "Look out!"

Sparx jumped out of the way as Emarelda's fist came from behind, only to hit the glass and make another crack, causing Silhouette to shriek and jump back. Sparx glared from his position on top of the laser.

Suddenly, the laser bucked and knocked him off. The laser rose up and pointed itself to the sky, the inside of the barrel glowing a bright blue. All the keepers contained within the glass screamed as their energy was sucked from them at a faster rate as the blue began to glow brighter.

Emarelda's hand hovered over a switch on the side. "Get ready for annihilation," she muttered, moving her hand to flip the switch…

* * *

Cliffhanger! Whoo, epic chapter!


	9. Hero

**Orrean Chronicles**

**Chapter Nine: Hero**

"Wait!!"

A voice broke the silence. Emarelda's hand stopped a few centimeters from the switch as she looked over to Sparx.

"What?"

"Do you really wanna do this?" Sparx asked. "This mass… Uh…"

"Genocide?" Silhouette asked, dread in her voice.

"Oh, I like that," Emarelda said.

"Genocide…" Sparx nodded. "It'll haunt you for the rest of your life, until you die."

"I'm immortal."

"Whatever!" Silhouette screamed. "Everyone that knows you will learn about this, and they'll hate you. The Light Spirits will strip you of your power!"

Emarelda was silent. Everyone looked from her to Sparx then to Silhouette. Then, Emarelda grinned. She leaned forward to bring her face near the glass in front of Silhouette.

"I _am_ the Light Spirit," she whispered, but everyone could hear. "I am light."

Silhouette paled.

Sparx leaped and grabbed onto Emarelda's neck. The green dragon immediately tried to knock him off by flying into the air, spinning around. Sparx held on tight and refused to be knocked off. Emarelda stopped moving, and looked back to Sparx.

"Would you want to pull the trigger, red simian?" she asked sweetly.

Sparx yelped as he was pulled into the air by an invisible force. He walked against his own will over to the large switch, reaching out his hand, and…

His fingers wrapped around the metal and yanked it down.

"No!" the Hyperforce yelled.

The power released Sparx, and he fell to his knees, breathing hard.

Chiro, Silhouette, Ausa, Fero and Dniw all began to scream as their energy was sucked from their bodies and into the laser, which aimed at a certain place in the sky.

"Earth is in alignment," Emarelda shouted to the heavens. "The humans have reached their final hour, and light blots out evil!!"

And the laser fired.

The team watched the laser bolt vanish into the skies. A sudden explosion caught their attention, and they turned to the direction of the sound.

Silhouette's confinement had exploded. She was nowhere to be seen.

A large holographic image rose up from the center of the table, showing the stars and the blue laser bolt. Silhouette, in her dragon form, was flying alongside the blue energy, flying faster to get ahead of it. Earth appeared as a small blue star in the distance.

Emarelda was shoved to the floor by a large, shadowy hand. She screamed as streams of light flew out of her body. Shruikan grinned as he felt Emarelda's power deplete.

"Sorry, dear sister," he said. "I cannot have you destroy my young protégé." The black dragon reached for the switch to turn off the laser.

The switch suddenly snapped off, twisted bits of metal flying outwards. One of the larger ones flew towards Shruikan, slicing across his left eye. He roared in pain and released the green dragon as he stumbled backwards, hands over his face.

"I won't have to," Emarelda muttered, getting up. "Her own naïveté will be her downfall."

Sparx looked in horror to the holographic image. The blue laser beam was almost upon Earth, and Silhouette had placed herself in between the planet and the laser, getting enough of a gain on the sinister beam to position herself just right.

The laser beam slammed into her body with full speed, but she remained inert, the laser splitting and going in two directions, barely missing Earth. Silhouette grit her teeth with the pain the laser itself brought, and the force that was needed to keep it away from Earth.

Soon, on Aether, without another Keystone to power and direct the laser, it soon died down, the laser sputtering and using its last energy to fire one last quick bolt. The last of the energy reached Silhouette in this separate burst, slamming into her and causing her to fall down to Earth.

"Silhouette!!" Quint screamed.

"No!!" Sparx yelled.

Emarelda frowned. "Silhouette was created for one reason, and one reason only—to hold the Key to shadows. You. Stand up and fight."

Sparx charged towards Emarelda, yelling, "Murderer!" But he was kicked aside by someone else—someone wearing black shoes and an orange scarf.

Chiro was out of his containment, as were the other Keepers. They all stood behind Emarelda, their faces left with no expression. Sparx held his stomach where Chiro had kicked him as Emarelda spoke.

"Plan A failed. Plan B shall commence. If this fails, I will forcibly take all the Keystones from their bodies…ripping their lives away."

Then, with a bright flash of light, they vanished.

Shruikan walked slowly over to where Sparx was lying on the ground. The black dragon gingerly picked him up and put him on his feet. "They are going to Earth. Emarelda will destroy the humans without this laser, and once she does that, she'll take the Keystones."

"We need to go there!" Sparx said.

Shruikan created a shard of shadow that floated above his hands, and tossed it to the trapped monkeys in the background. The shard broke their prison, and they ran up to Sparx and the black dragon.

"Where's my sister?" Quint demanded of the black dragon, tears in his eyes.

"Hopefully hiding," Shruikan said. "I can sense the location of her Keystone. But so can Emarelda, so we must go to Earth. Now."

Without a sign of approval from the others, he teleported them away.

* * *

The smoke poured from the crater she created upon impact with Earth. Her limp and lifeless body sparked with blue electricity, the energy playing along her body. She was completely unaware of the events around her.

Police cars created a circle around the crater, red and blue lights flashing in the night. People crowded behind yellow police tape that said 'Do Not Cross'. They strained to see what all the fuss was about. A news woman was standing in front of a camera, delivering information to people worldwide. "We are not sure what it is," she was saying, "but it could be connected to the blue light we all saw."

"Now calm down, folks," an officer said to the assembled people. "We are blocking off this area until the projectile is removed from the premises and taken to a lab, and the area is sanitized."

A roar echoed through the night. A dark figure shot up from the crater, spreading large, bat-like wings and taking off over the heads of the spectators. It let out a jet of flame, before vanishing from sight.

* * *

Menacing eyes gazed forward, their keen vision piercing through the night, allowing her to see the city far ahead of them. She gave her followers a simple task.

"This will be slow, but fun. Destroy the city, show no mercy to any humans. Anything other than a human must be protected."

The four behind her nodded.

"But top priority is finding our lost little shadow. My hold on her is naught. She must be brought back. Leave this to me, and take care of the Hyperforce if they cause trouble." She looked to a hill in the distance at this.

Chiro and Ausa climbed onto Dniw's back, and the large creature took to the air, flying towards the brightly lit city. Fero, for his large size, easily ran that distance.

* * *

Sparx looked up. He had only been to Earth twice in his life, and the first time was in space. The stars looked so different than the ones in the sky on Shuggazoom.

"Look," Nova suddenly whispered. "There they go."

They watched Dniw fly off with Chiro and Ausa, and Fero run along the ground like a skitterish spider. They saw the string of light that was Emarelda fly off into the sky, towards them.

"Hide!" Shruikan whispered harshly, cloaking them with shadow. Emarelda flew overhead, off in the other direction.

"The jerk will lead us to my sister," Jupiter growled, watching Emarelda fly off.

Shruikan shook his head. "No. She's not looking for Silhouette. Let's find her, while Emarelda is occupied."

Everyone nodded and the shadow dragon allowed Quint, Jupiter and Sparx to climb onto his back. He spread his wings and took off in the opposite direction that Emarelda left in. The others ran off towards the city, and in the direction of their leader.

Emarelda went south. Shruikan went north. It was winter, and Shruikan knew that Silhouette would go where Emarelda was weakest—where it was the darkest.

The North Pole.

* * *

Despite being 100 robot, the cold air still nipped at her body, chilling her to the very core. She wrapped her arms around herself, but that could not counteract the cold winds as they blew into the cave she had concealed herself in.

She exhaled slowly, the icy air climbing into her throat, causing her to choke.

If she died here, at least Emarelda wouldn't have her, and Sparx would protect the Keystone as she had once done.

Taking on the form of a dragon, she shook off the ice that had frosted on her metallic body. Silhouette breathed out a jet of flame, the fire consuming the cavern walls. She returned to her normal form, laying back onto the now-toasty ground, and closing her eyes.

It was a few hours later that a different sound caught her attention, one different than the howling winds and the distant sound of her own breathing.

It must've been a while since she fell asleep, since she was now covered in snow, and freezing cold again. She didn't have enough energy to transform anymore.

She coughed, and there was a shout. "I hear something!!" a voice called.

A familiar figured entered the cavern, stretching his neck to look around. She sat up, eyes wide. "S-Shruikan?"

The black dragon turned to her. "She's here, everyone!!"

Other familiar figures ran in, and her hazy mind recognized her brothers as they ran up and wrapped their arms around her. Sparx then joined them, and she closed her eyes and knew no more.

* * *

It was surprising one little boy hero could feel no remorse for killing his own kind.

Chiro smiled at the death and destruction around him, but his joys were short lived when he heard a deep voice call to him.

"Chiro! Stop this now!"

He turned to see Antauri, along with Gibson, Nova, and Otto. He grinned maliciously, holding up a fist.

"Chiro, snap outta it!" Otto pleaded. "Please!!"

Chiro just grinned more as a lightning bolt formed in each of his hands, the gloves of which were stained with blood.

"Chiro, no!" Antauri yelled. But it was too late.

Chiro spun around, tossing the lightning bolts towards the team, yelling, "Double Lightning Lash!" The bolts flew straight on towards Antauri and Gibson. Gibson held out his drills, shooting out a laser beam that destroyed the projectiles. Chiro frowned.

Gibson looked to Antauri. "What do we do? We can't hurt him, but he doesn't think twice about hurting us!"

Chiro pressed his hands together, and as he separated them, a crack appeared in the ground, heading straight for them. They jumped into the air, their jetpacks humming as they floated above the ground.

"Remember what Emma said?" Otto asked. "Earth is Chiro's element. He was born here."

"Otto's right," Gibson pondered. "Turn his element against him."

Suddenly, a scream caught their ears. They turned to see the fire creature unleashing flames upon a three story building. People poured out of it, but some were still in there.

"Otto, Gibson, go help the humans!" Antauri ordered. "Nova, you and I will try to knock some sense into Chiro."

They nodded and flew off to the building. Chiro watched, and then turned back to Antauri. "Chiro, you need to stop this! You're hurting innocent people!"

Chiro just smirked.

"He's a human," Emarelda's voice said, echoing through the air. "Their very nature is to destroy _everything_."

A glowing sword formed in Chiro's hand, and he wrapped his fingers around it. Nova and Antauri took a step back…

And Chiro lunged forward.

* * *

She felt warm. A little _too_ warm, in fact. What was warm? her body asked her. She mentally shrugged.

She groaned as she felt warmer. _Let me go back to the ice,_ she thought absentmindedly.

A figure shook her lightly. She opened her eyes to see red. The red sighed.

"You're awake…" Sparx whispered.

"Huhn?" she asked.

The red monkey pulled her into a sitting position. "How do you feel?"

"Warm…"

Sparx smiled a little. "Shruikan made a fire. You won't be cold."

Silhouette curled into a ball, with her head on Sparx's lap, her mind starting to come around. "You followed me…"

"We came to help you, Silhouette," Sparx said, placing a hand on her head. "Your brothers went with Shruikan to find something to eat. They'll be gone for a while; probably going to buy something from a store way down south."

"And the others?"

"Trying to stop Chiro."

"_Just_ Chiro? Why not Ausa, Dniw, or Fero?"

"Who?"

Silhouette tried to sit up. "The other Keystone holders. They're just as important as me, or Chiro. They're my friends, too."

Sparx sighed and gently pushed her back down. "They'll probably try and help them, too. Antauri will, at least, and tell the others to help, too."

Silhouette closed her eyes. "I hope."

Suddenly, Shruikan slinked into the cave, Silhouette's brothers following him. They were shivering, but nonetheless came forward and sat in front of Sparx. "You okay, sis?" Quint asked.

"Uh-huh…" she said.

Jupiter set a pot they had brought above the fire. "We bought some soup. Shruikan, apparently, has an Earth credit card."

"Weird," Silhouette said with a tired grin.

"So, why'd you come all the way out here, sis?" Jupiter asked her.

"Shruikan told me to," was her answer.

Angry eyes turned to the black dragon. "This is a rendezvous point. Emarelda is weakest where it is darkest. The arctic is perfect."

"But she almost froze to death!" Quint said, turning red in anger.

"But she didn't. She's alive now, and that's all that matters."

Shruikan reached into the shadows near him and brought out a grey, fluffy blanket. He tossed it over Silhouette, who was now asleep. She stopped shivering immediately, cuddling up closer to Sparx.

"I am growing old," Shruikan said. "I've been the keeper of the Shadow Keystone for as long as I can remember, but it is time to pass it on to a new generation. Silhouette will keep it for as long as she lives, or chooses. Despite what Emarelda says, the Keystone of Shadow cannot be removed by force—the Keeper has to give it up." He smiled. "I will help one last time. My power matches Emarelda's. I cannot destroy her, but I can make her give up. Understand?"

They all nodded.

"Emarelda is tough, but she's honorable in a stalemate."

"Are you sure?" Sparx asked quietly.

"If she isn't, then I have a plan B," Shruikan said.

* * *

I typed this listening to the song 'Hero' by Nickleback. :P


	10. Hymn

**Orrean Chronicles**

* * *

We have two guest appearances in this chapter! Just decided to throw two of my best and favorite evil characters in here!!

* * *

**Chapter Ten: Hymn**

Antauri had struggled a while, but he finally managed to free the swords from Chiro's hands, but not without gaining a few wounds himself. Antauri now had Chiro's head pushed into the ground, with his hands behind his back. The boy glared ahead, gritting his teeth.

"Stand. Fight." Emarelda's voice rang through the air.

Chiro jumped up and grabbed Antauri's wrist, spinning around before releasing the dizzy monkey.

Emarelda approached the fallen monkey, placing a foot on his head, before looking to the starry sky. "Come to me, Shruikan! I know you're here!"

A black, clawed hand sprung from Emarelda's own shadow, landing a hard punch on her cheek, causing her to fly back. Chiro, and the other three Keystone Keepers suddenly fell to the ground, unmoving.

The hand then grabbed Emarelda by her snout, throwing her through the air and off into the distance.

The shadow remained, but did not move after that.

Emarelda returned, walking back calmly. She rose up on two legs and smirked. "Hiding in my very own shadow," she muttered. "Impressive. I see you have learned some new tricks, Shruikan."

But, suddenly, there was a sharp pain in her neck. She cried out, feeling pain for the first time. But, only one being could do that…

Shruikan dug his sharp, blood-stained teeth into Emarelda's neck, and the green dragon fell to her knees. Silhouette rose up from the ground, grinning as everyone ran up to her.

"That was cool!" Otto said.

"I didn't know you could do that," Jupiter remarked.

Silhouette smiled. "Shruikan taught me a lot of things after I was made."

In the black monkey's hand was the Shadow Keystone. She held it up menacingly as it glowed, absorbing the light coming from Emarelda. The green dragon looked up with weary eyes.

"Leave Earth now," Silhouette said quietly, menacingly. "Leave these poor people alone. You've caused enough suffering."

"It is they who have caused the suffering on this world," Emarelda said. But she didn't move.

"I'm not so sure about that," Shruikan said. "Maybe you're right. Maybe you're wrong. If you hate them so much, leave them be."

Emarelda smiled. "You two have outsmarted even me. Very impressive. It's never been done." She then looked off into the distance. A black glass orb appeared in her hand. "Another for the collection," she murmured. She tossed the orb to Silhouette, who caught it and handed it to Shruikan. Bidden by an unspoken signal, Emarelda finally stood and spread her wings.

"This planet is doomed anyway," she said. "More fun to watch them kill themselves and hope they turn around than to give them no chance at all." Then, she flew away. But not into the sky. She flew just over the ground before elevating into the air, flying over the horizon, to where the sun was just beginning to rise.

Chiro groaned and sat up, putting a hand to his head. "What happened?"

Antauri kneeled next to him. "Emarelda controlled you. You don't remember anything?"

Chiro sat still for a moment, the memories finally coming back. He had taken the lives of many people. Some still escaped from a mercy his controlled mind still knew.

Even Emarelda had mercy, if very vague.

Silhouette flew off in her dragon form to aid Ausa, Dniw, and Fero. They were still out there, and still alive. Shruikan looked calmly into the dark orb he held. A familiar face was trapped inside, banging on the glass.

As Silhouette returned with the three, Shruikan said, "Well, you must be Temhota. We are well met."

"Emarelda trapped him?" Silhouette said, looking into the orb. "Are we gonna put him in storage?"

"Storage?" Chiro echoed.

* * *

"Emarelda and I were partners for a while, capturing the most diabolical demons, shadows, and manifestations of energy in the universe," Shruikan explained. They were now on Aether, repairing the Super Robot.

The giant laser Emarelda had tried to use was lying on the ground, in a damaged heap, destroyed beyond repair. It still looked as menacing as it did when it fired the beam intended to kill every human on Earth. The place where the Keystone Keepers were contained was destroyed, shattered glass everywhere. Only Shruikan could walk on the ground without feeling pain.

"But we soon parted ways, until she needed the Shadow Keystone to power her newest creation—Silhouette. On a whim, asking me for two monkeys from Shuggazoom. She even told me the colors and attitudes of the two monkeys—calm, and protective. She told me they would be brothers. And I found them. They were you two, Quint and Jupiter." He looked at the two of them. "She said a sister you two had when you were infants had died, and you would not do anything without a sister. So she made Silhouette." Silhouette looked to her feet. "I did this for something in return. Emarelda gave me two evil spirits she had in her possession. One I thought was destroyed, but the other was supposed to be sealed in the Shadow Keystone."

Antauri blinked.

"I do not force shadows on Amere to obey me, but such is their nature to need a master. So, I allow them all to live on Amere—the shadows of the dead. But some evil ones try to take them away, and they fight. A lot. I grew tired of it, so I capture the evil shadows and contain them in my castle."

Antauri blinked. "Do they have names?"

"They do," Shruikan said, nodding "That is why I will take you to them—to the World of Shadows, Amere."

* * *

The black dragon nimbly led the Super Robot through space, guiding it with his own thoughts—there was a path it had to follow for the veil around the light-less world to let them in. Safely getting them to Amere, the Monkey Team gazed in amazement at the world of shadows.

It looked like a void. No stars, no light, nothing. Almost like a black hole.

"We've been in this region of space before!" Gibson exclaimed. "How have we not seen this?"

"A puzzle, if you will," Shruikan said slyly, not saying anything else.

The 'black hole' of a world seemed to open up, swallowing the Super Robot up.

* * *

"I'm blind!"

"Sparx, hold my hand. There's just no light."

Sparx felt around before Silhouette grabbed his hand gently and squeezed it. "Can you see?"

"Yes, I can see here," she answered.

Sparx held her hand and grinned, even though no one could see it.

"Form a line, everyone," Shruikan instructed. "Otto, grab Sparx's Gibson, grab Otto's and so on. Silhouette, guide them to the castle. I'll be there."

With that, he flew off. But only Silhouette knew. The air was deathly still, as it always was.

"One foot, then the other," Silhouette said. "Walk at a medium pace, and do not try to stray away from me. Do not speak to loudly, and do not activate any light."

She began to walk as the others clasped hands, forming a line with Chiro in the middle. Silhouette walked onwards, the others' footsteps unconsciously following the pattern of her breathing. This went on for almost hours, then the black monkey stopped.

It was even more silent for a moment, and Silhouette said, "When I say go, run inside."

There was the sound of a door creaking open, and suddenly screams filled the darkness as the sound echoed across the land. Dim light poured out, revealing black monsters following closely behind the group.

"Go!" Silhouette said. The group ran inside, and Silhouette closed the door, jumping upwards.

The group stumbled into the dimly lit room, falling on top of each other. The calm, red eyes of Shruikan greeted them. "Glad you made it."

Silhouette jumped through a window and fell to the floor below, landing in front of Shruikan. "I was created here," she said thoughtfully. "Emarelda was granted space here to work in the shadows."

"And now I regret it," Shruikan said. Silhouette felt a pang in her chest, because the great black dragon was saying he wished she wasn't created, but he continued, "The shadows of this world must have corrupted even Emarelda."

"So, where is this collection you spoke of?" Antauri said, not really believing that this dragon had a collection of evil spirits.

"Come." Shruikan spoke, walking off.

As they walked, Silhouette told them another story. "I would be in containment with the evil spirits if it weren't for Shruikan."

"What?" Sparx asked.

"When I was created, I was fully robotic, and I still am. My robotic mind could not decipher right from wrong, and I began to destroy everything. Shruikan gave me the Shadow Keystone—and, thus, a true mind." She looked to her feet. "The Keystone keeps me sane, in a way, but I kept that under control once it was stolen. That's why I was always so tired and weak. It takes a lot of energy to resist the urge to destroy."

"And that one glitch is still in her," Jupiter claimed. "The Keystone may be 'alive', but it does not understand strong emotions. If she gets too angry, or too sad, it sort of shuts down."

Sparx draped his arm reassuringly around Silhouette's shoulder, but Shruikan said, "Here it is."

It was a large door, stretching to the ceiling of the tall hallway like a cathedral. Shruikan stood there, and began humming a tune. After a few seconds, the large door creaked open inwards. As everyone stepped inside, Shruikan stopped Chiro and stood him in front of him.

"I do not want you to worry about what you will see inside," the shadow dragon said to the human boy. "I know you have trouble in the past, so don't worry."

Chiro cocked his head, confused, but nodded.

In the room, it was a bit brighter than the rest of the castle—in fact, it was a bit _too_ bright. Everyone's eyes adjusted, only to see many glass tubes, like the recharging chambers Emarelda had for Silhouette and her brothers, stretching from the floor to the ceiling. The tubes were filled with black mist—the spirits hiding, muttering in solitude. Whispers filled the room, along with yells of the evil beings hoping to condemn them to the void.

Chiro approached one tube, and noticed engraving on the marble floor in front of it. His blood froze when he read the words.

_Skeleton Prince._

A mocking laughing sound came from the tube. "Well, look who decided to join the fun. I thought I would never see you again, Chiro."

The mist inside the tube formed into the form of the evil demon prince that had possessed Chiro long ago. It looked like him, only with white hair, inverted clothes, red gloves, scarf, and shoes. He also had a red streak through his hair, now on the tips of his hair. It laughed almost insanely, watching and grinning at Chiro's horrified expression. "See what has become of me? This is the fate I was left to!!"

The Prince jumped forward, trying to attack Chiro, but the glass prevented him from doing so. Instead, the Prince clawed at the glass.

Chiro stammered, "W-W-What are you d-doing here?"

The Prince merely chuckled. "Like anything, we cannot be created or destroyed. We just are. You thought I was destroyed, but I was not. I had been captured by light and trapped in shadow. So here I am."

Shruikan turned and gave a menacing roar in the Prince's direction. The Prince stumbled back, pressing his back against the glass behind him, eyes wide with fear. Shruikan grinned, and the Prince composed himself. He sat on the floor of his cell and wrapped his arms around his knees, muttering incomprehensible words.

Chiro pressed a hand over his rapidly beating heart, backing away from the cell. "I thought we destroyed him," he whispered to Shruikan.

"He spoke truly," the black dragon said. "Nothing can be created or destroyed. So he is here. Don't worry; he will not escape."

"Don't count your blessings yet, old dragon," another voice said.

Shruikan approached the cell next to the Prince's. The Prince watched with apprehensive eyes as the black dragon came closer, but he turned to the opposite cell. The Hyperforce approached the cell as well.

"I would not speak, evil demon," Shruikan said. "You tried to destroy worlds. I trapped you in the Keystone, but it wasn't good enough."

The mist formed into another familiar face—the Obliteration. The ghost-like being crossed his arms. "Thanks for my life story."

"No problem," Shruikan said.

"Well, Hyperforce," the Obliteration said. "We meet again. I'll spare you the fancy greeting. I believe my friend over there already told you of our predicament."

"I didn't tell them you were here," the Prince said. "You know them?"

Right now, even to Chiro, the two demon spirits seemed just like regular cell mates, just talking amongst themselves. He stayed several yards away from them, just in case.

Silhouette came up to the cells. "Oh, it's you," the Prince said, glaring daggers. "Here to taunt us again? I thought we were finally rid of you for these past years."

Silhouette just smirked. "Nope. I came back. So, what insults have you come up with for me?"

"No new ones," a different voice said, probably one of the other spirits contained.

"Just the usual," yet another voice.

"So how long have these being been in here?" Antauri asked the black dragon.

"Many centuries, but the Skeleton Prince and the Obliteration were just recently caught," was the answer.

"How old are you?" Gibson asked.

Shruikan chuckled. "Hundreds of years old, my friend."

"Has Emarelda helped you catch these things?" Nova wondered.

"Yes, for most of my life she has helped me."

"Wow," Sparx commented.

"I believe she is not evil, but vengeful," Shruikan announced. "She is the last of the Light Dragons. The others of her kind were wiped out…the last of which was killed by humans. From Earth."

An uneasy silence lingered in the air.

"I know of only one punishment that will suffice for Emarelda," Shruikan said. "But we must wait for the right time."

* * *

Light lit up the darkness. It was darkness that had never seen light in thousands of years. The creatures hiding ran from the light; ran far away. The light continued to move, up until it came to a castle. The light seemingly melted away at the door, allowing the being to step inside.

The being entered one room. There were numerous glass tubes stretching from the floor to the ceiling, and this being approached the nearest one. It contained a young-white haired body. He looked at her with blazing red eyes.

"I have a proposition for you and all your little friends, Prince," the being, a green dragon, said to the boy.

The boy paused for a moment, then smiled. His laughter was echoed by every other being in the room—all one thousand of them.

* * *

Spooky…

I'm planning a sequel, called Ancient Legacies. Look for it!

And thatnks to my only three reviewers on here... You'veBeenJayed, Duskblood, and OrangeChima!

As for you other peoples...was this story that bad?


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